Cancer Researchers Show CRISPR-Edited CAR T Cells Could Improve Immunotherapy (mskcc.org) 11
There's already a powerful immunotherapy that "involves engineering a patient's T cells so they recognize and attack cancer cells," writes one of America's top cancer hospitals. The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center notes that CAR T cell therapy has already begun to revolutionize cancer treatment," with these "chimeric" T cells "multiplied in a lab and given back to the patient to be a continual fighting force against the cancer."
But now "New research from the lab of physician-scientist Michel Sadelain, MD, PhD, shows that disrupting a single gene in the CAR T cells can make them more potent and able to fight tumors longer." In a paper published in Cancer Discovery, the team demonstrated that disrupting the gene SUV39H1 causes a ripple effect: It restores the expression of multiple genes that help sustain the T cells' longevity. The researchers showed that this approach improved CAR T cell effectiveness against multiple cancers in mice...
The researchers used the gene-editing tool CRISPR/Cas9 to alter SUV39H1 in human CAR T cells. They placed these modified CAR T cells into mice that had been implanted with either human leukemia cells or prostate cancer cells. For both cancers, the CAR T cells were able to sustain their function without becoming exhausted, leading to tumor elimination. By contrast, mice with unedited CAR T cells did not survive the cancer. "The edited CAR T cells can maintain their anti-cancer effects, even when we challenged them repeatedly by exposing them to new tumors over time," Dr. Zhao says. "These results suggest that SUV39H1-edited CAR T cells may reduce tumor relapse in patients."
There did not appear to be serious side effects in the mice, although researchers will need to confirm the safety of this approach in humans. The biotechnology company Mnemo Therapeutics is exploring the possibility of conducting clinical trials based on this research.
But now "New research from the lab of physician-scientist Michel Sadelain, MD, PhD, shows that disrupting a single gene in the CAR T cells can make them more potent and able to fight tumors longer." In a paper published in Cancer Discovery, the team demonstrated that disrupting the gene SUV39H1 causes a ripple effect: It restores the expression of multiple genes that help sustain the T cells' longevity. The researchers showed that this approach improved CAR T cell effectiveness against multiple cancers in mice...
The researchers used the gene-editing tool CRISPR/Cas9 to alter SUV39H1 in human CAR T cells. They placed these modified CAR T cells into mice that had been implanted with either human leukemia cells or prostate cancer cells. For both cancers, the CAR T cells were able to sustain their function without becoming exhausted, leading to tumor elimination. By contrast, mice with unedited CAR T cells did not survive the cancer. "The edited CAR T cells can maintain their anti-cancer effects, even when we challenged them repeatedly by exposing them to new tumors over time," Dr. Zhao says. "These results suggest that SUV39H1-edited CAR T cells may reduce tumor relapse in patients."
There did not appear to be serious side effects in the mice, although researchers will need to confirm the safety of this approach in humans. The biotechnology company Mnemo Therapeutics is exploring the possibility of conducting clinical trials based on this research.
Cancer spreads (Score:3)
Is this a dupe of the previous story?
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LOL .. no isn't, but that wouldn't be unprecedented.
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It is. Wait. A threat to whose economy?
Re:Threat to the economy (Score:4)
Unsurprisingly, the really really really huge public test of mRNA vaccines (AKA COVID-19) has shown that they can be used without harm, so we are much more likely to see these anti-cancer mRNA vaccine fast tracked
I, for one, applaud our mRNA pushing overlords
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Unsurprisingly, the really really really huge public test of mRNA vaccines (AKA COVID-19) has shown that they can be used without harm, so we are much more likely to see these anti-cancer mRNA vaccine fast tracked
I, for one, applaud our mRNA pushing overlords
As a bonus, the mRNA vaccines over time filter out that ring around the gene pool, low-information wackjobs: they won't use the vaccine and die of the disease. If only there were an existence filter like this for their counterparts on the left, the No Nukers.
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Polio has an evasive strategy which made it difficult to eradicate. However the vaccine empowered a person's immune system to recognize polio virus before it gained a foothold and eradicate it, and there are several other methods to reduce spread as it requires primarily drinking fecal contaminated water to do so. Managing the environment while also empowering immune systems primarily through oral vac
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Nice explanation, but you need to play some catch up
Researchers completed a draft map of the human proteome—the set of all proteins in the human body. The accomplishment will help advance a broad range of research into human health and disease. [nih.gov]
Remember those protein folding apps people run in the background?
Well, along with some relatively active privately held supercomputers, and a few decades of advanced research, useful techniques are hitting the market that do exactly what you seem to think is an
From the department of redundancy department (Score:2)
Looks neat though. I mean... if we can pick up specific types of cells and just tell them to go away. This opens up the equivalent of 'software patch' for the human.
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HTLV-1 Tax interacts with SUV39H1 https://retrovirology.biomedce... [biomedcentral.com]
Researchers gave the cells immunity to viral products? Without that clamp, immune cell no longer hindered?