Activation of immune cells

1. A method of activating immune cells of a subject, the method comprising:

obtaining bone marrow of the subject, the bone marrow comprising immune cells;

incubating the bone marrow with a non-ionic hydrophilic branched polysaccharide and a TLR2 ligand, wherein the non-ionic hydrophilic branched polysaccharide comprises poly(sucrose-co-epichlorhydrin),

wherein the non-ionic hydrophilic branched polysaccharide is at a concentration, wherein, if the bone marrow is contacted with whole blood and centrifuged, said concentration is sufficient to permit fluid movement of whole blood through the non-ionic hydrophilic branched polysaccharide without separation of erythrocytes,

wherein the non-ionic hydrophilic branched polysaccharide has a molecular weight greater than 20 kDa, and

wherein the incubating is performed until the immune cells are activated; and

administering the activated immune cells to the subject.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying a subject as being in need of immune cell activation.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the subject has cancer.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the incubating further comprises incubating the hone marrow with a cancer cell antigen.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the non-ionic hydrophilic branched polysaccharide has a molecular weight of at least 70 kDa.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the concentration of the non-ionic hydrophilic branched polysaccharide is less than 1 gram per liter.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the concentration of the non-ionic hydrophilic branched polysaccharide is less than 1 grain per liter, and wherein the TLR2 ligand comprises hyaluronic acid.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the concentration of the non-ionic hydrophilic branched polysaccharide is less than 0.2 grams per liter, and wherein the TLR2 ligand comprises hyaluronic acid.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method does not comprise leukapheresis.