Professor Beth Stadtmueller and Sonya Kumar Bharathkar have created a chimeric secretory immunoglobulin A (cSIgA) with a modified secretory component (SC) that can be used...
Professor Beth Stadtmueller and Sonya Kumar Bharathkar have created a chimeric secretory immunoglobulin A (cSIgA) with a modified secretory component (SC) that can be used in therapeutic treatment. The bispecific cSIgA can bind its target antigen and additional ligands by an engineered SC portion, such as toxins or surface antigens. This can be applied to treatment for mucosal infections such as Clostridium difficile.
As our understanding of biological systems and human diseases advance, humans are now trying to combat cancer with new development of drugs and therapeutic treatments. An...
As our understanding of biological systems and human diseases advance, humans are now trying to combat cancer with new development of drugs and therapeutic treatments. An aspect that scientists are working on is the development of personalized cancer therapies to train our immune system to recognize and target our own cancer cells. The Wang Lab has developed a new personalized cancer therapy. It is a cancer vaccine that makes cancer-cell derived exosomes more effective antigens for targeting specific tumors. This way, we can get a better chance at utilizing these particles to boost our T cells and Dendritic cells to fight against cancer.
This cancer treatment material and approach is a less invasive, more targeted alternative for treating radiation-sensitive tumors. A novel mechanophore-containing hydrogel...
This cancer treatment material and approach is a less invasive, more targeted alternative for treating radiation-sensitive tumors. A novel mechanophore-containing hydrogel is deposited at the tumor site and high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is used to locally generate cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS) through an approach we call mechanochemical dynamic therapy (MDT). MDT dramatically decreases non-tumor cytotoxicity caused by conventional radiation treatments, which have to deliver damaging radiation through layers of healthy tissue to reach a tumor. Since HIFU can penetrate deep into and through tissues—including bone—MDT has the potential to significantly increase the number of tumors that are candidates for minimally invasive treatment. These combined features of targeted treatment (inaccessible through sonodynamic therapies) and the ability to treat deep-seated tumors (inaccessible through photodynamic therapy) makes MDT an extremely promising new approach for effective tumor treatment with minimal side effects.
Benefits:
Reduces side effects compared to photodynamic and sonodynamic therapies
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurogenerative disorders that affect 5,000 people in the U.S. each year. Huntington’s disease (HD) is another progressive...
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurogenerative disorders that affect 5,000 people in the U.S. each year. Huntington’s disease (HD) is another progressive and fatal neurogenerative disorder that affects nearly 30,000 people in the U.S. Both of these neurodegenerative disorders are associated with abnormal protein accumulation, such as SOD1 and HTT. CRISPR-Cas13 targets the genes of interest (i.e., SOD1 and HTT) and ultimately reduces the gene expression that are related to ALS and HD. Previous CRISPR technologies often use the Cas9 enzyme, which presents multiple problems with ease of delivery, size, and potential genomic damage to cells. Cas13 is smaller in size, making it easier to deliver. Furthermore, Cas13 targets the RNA—not the DNA, which means Cas13 downregulates gene expression without having to change the DNA sequence.
