Late on August 31 at 11 p.m. EDT the RapidScat instrument that flies aboard the International Space Station observed Ignacio's strongest winds surrounded the…
You may have noticed that after a heavy rainstorm, creeks and rivers often turn the color of chocolate milk. That cloudy brown color is caused by…
Intact memory capacity is crucial for everyday life. This fact becomes apparent once a memory disorder has developed. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common…
Adoptive T-cell therapy is a very promising approach in the treatment of cancer. Early phase clinical trials with genetically engineered T-cells expressing a tumor-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) show significant efficacy in the treatment. However, currently used CAR modified T-cells for antigen-directed targeting towards tumor cells have insufficient performance in the anti-tumor attack, e. g. less amplification and cytolytic activity after the transfer of the modified T-cells into the patient. Scientists from the University Medical Center of Cologne developed a bispecific CAR, which improves the performance of genetically engineered T-cells expressing these CAR polypeptides on their surface. The bispecific CAR comprises two antibody units, with one antibody unit being an anti-CD30 single chain antibody unit and the other antibody unit being an antibody unit specific for an antigen present on the surface of a predetermined target cell, e. g. for the tumor carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA) on breast cancer cells.
The invention describes a CAR which recognizes CD30 as a target antigen and initiates lysis of CD30-positive (CD30+) tumor cells but not of CD30+ healthy cells like hematopoietic stem cells. Specific genetic modifications of the anti-CD30 CAR ensure the specific targeting of CD30+ tumor cells and prevent unwanted side-effects. This approach has been tested in vitro with CD30+ hematopoietic stem cells and CD30+ tumor cells and in vivo in mice transplanted with human CD30+ hematopoietic stem cells. In vivo experiments provided evidence that the treatment with anti-CD30 T-cells has no unwanted impact on the endogenous immune system. Thus, the CAR is most suitable for clinical application in targeting CD30+ leukemia and lymphoma cells. A clinical study phase I is planned for early 2016, indication: cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.
The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), a particle collider for nuclear physics research at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National…
Meanwhile scientists identified many more secondary metabolites like Erythromycin, an antibacterial drug. The enormous relevance of these natural products in…
Antibodies are protein molecules that are produced by the body to fight pathogens. Their formation basically follows the principle of evolution. The best…
Gum 56 — also known as IC 4628 or by its nickname, the Prawn Nebula — is named after the Australian astronomer Colin Stanley Gum, who, in 1955, published a…
In order to take an important step towards limiting global warming to less than 2 °C compared to pre-industrial times, countries are expected to achieve a new…
The problem of space debris is one of the main challenges that aerospace engineers have to face, due to the danger it poses to satellites. In this context,…
In Sinutrain version 4.7, Siemens has simplified its Windows PC-based offline programming software for machine tools, and equipped it with new, practical…
Unlike most mammals, male orang-utans express one of two distinct morphological forms: some develop large “cheek pads” on their faces; others do not. A team of…
By studying networks of activity in the brain's frontal cortex, a region associated with control over thoughts and actions, the researchers have shown that the…
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument that flies aboard NASA's Aqua satellite gathers infrared data that reveals temperatures. When NASA's Aqua…
The switch from a planet with very little available oxygen to one with an atmosphere much like today's was one of the major events in Earth's history, and it…
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