T-knife – unleashing T-cell receptors on cancer – Nature
For 17 years, Thomas Blankenstein has been working on his Berlin-based start-up T-knife and is finally going to be able to test his T-cell receptor (TCR) cancer immunotherapy. To make this immunotherapy, they replaced the TCR genes of a mouse with those of a human and inserted genes to encompass both the human TCR repertoire […]
A new study reveals unintended CRISPR/Cas9 editing events
A group of researchers set out to characterize the genotypic abnormalities induced by Cas9 in human cells. To do this, they studied the tRNA gene. These researchers deleted two tRNA genes from the genomes of hyperploid human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) and haploid chronic myeloid leukemia (HAP1) cells using the CRISPR/Cas9 system with dual gRNAs. The […]
Promising immunotherapy uses cancer-killing cells to destroy malignant tumors
CAR-T cell therapy, which received FDA approval in 2017, are highly effective against some blood-borne cancers and offer significant benefits but are not uniformly applicable to all forms of cancer. In addition, in patients with solid tumors, T cells can cause devastating and even fatal side effects. That’s why researchers at McMaster University have developed […]
Oncolytic Virus/CAR T-Cell Therapy Combo Shows Preclinical Potential in Solid Tumors
Solid tumors are surrounded by an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment. Therefore, when CAR T cells try to enter the tumor, survive, and kill the cancer cells, they cannot do so effectively.City of Hope has therefore developed with the immuno-oncology company Imugene Ltd. a therapy combining an oncolytic virus and CAR T cells that shows preclinical potential […]
Ide-Cel Demonstrates Durable Responses in Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma
The CAR T-cell therapy idecabtagene vicleucel (ide-cel; Abecma) continues to demonstrate improved survival in heavily treated patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma, according to updated results from the phase 2 KarMMa trial (NCT03361748) presented at the 2021 ASCO Annual Meeting. During the trial, 140 patients with at least three prior lines of treatment for multiple myeloma who […]
Alternative oxidase (AOX)
Alternative oxidase (AOX) has been identified as a potential therapeutic agent for mitochondrial diseases for several years. Naturally present only in plants, its fonctions in insects and vertebrates was unknow so far. The first transgenic mouse model was produced by GEG Tech’s Team (El-Khoury R, et al. (2013)), validating the safety of stable expression of […]
First CAR-T therapy to target BCMA gets FDA nod – Nature
The first CAR-T immunotherapy directed against BCMA (idecabtagene vicleucel) for patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma developed by partners Bristol Myers Squibb and bluebird bio was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on March 26, 2021. This therapy recognizes and binds BCMA (B cell maturation antigen) which is a cell surface protein […]
Australian Vaccine First In World To Show Ability To Totally Block Covid-19 Virus Transmission
Australian company, Vaxine Pty Ltd, has developed a protein-based COVID-19 vaccine that completely blocks virus transmission to non-immune individuals.
Clinical Update: TALEN-Edited CAR T-Cell Therapy for Large B-Cell Lymphoma
ALLO-501A is a CAR T cell-based therapy for relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma developed by the American company Allogene Therapeutics. The advantage of this therapy is its allogeneic approach, i.e. it is based on healthy donor cells. However, the risk of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) must be mitigated to avoid rejection of the therapy. The […]
Prime editing enables more precise correction of genetic problems than traditional CRISPR
According to scientists at the Medical College of Georgia, a new edition of the CRISPR gene tool successfully suppressed the expression of Tspan2 gene involved in the differentiation of smooth muscle cells that help give strength and movement to organs and blood vessels. The researchers made a single-base change in the promoter region of Tspan2 […]
