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Biochemistry

Kennesaw State graduate blends arts and science, evolves as researcher – News

Hope Didier

KENNESAW, Ga. (Jul 30, 2021) Hope Didier forged her own path at Kennesaw State an academic journey that blended divergent passions in dance and the sciences.

The July graduate will earn two bachelors degrees this week in fields not typically paired: dance and molecular and cellular biology. Didier intertwined the two degrees seamlessly, serving as stage manager in multiple dance productions and spearheading cancer cell research that led to scholarly recognition at state and national levels. This fall, she will continue her education at Wake Forest University in a molecular medicine doctoral program.

I would take certain biological principles or ideas and use them as a foundation for a piece I was choreographing or to better educate my peers on what our bodies are actually doing as we move and dance in space, said Didier, who has been dancing since age 3.

As a scientist and dancer, I can appreciate the movement of the often unseen aspects of life under a microscope, in a way that Im not sure many would, and then translate that work in a manner that could be understood by more individuals, no matter their background or expertise.

Didier credits her parents, who teach middle school math and science, for her biology enthusiasm. She added that her parents encouraged creativity and curiosity, and also have a strong interest in music, which likely led to her dance involvement at an early age. Like many of her friends, Didier contemplated a ballet career, having danced with the Atlanta Ballet throughout high school and performed at the Fox Theatre and the Cobb Energy Centre.

Didiers interest in KSU Journey Honors College led her to apply to its Presidents Emerging Global Scholars (PEGS) program, an initiative that challenges Honors students to grow as scholars, leaders and innovators. She was impressed by the faculty who interviewed her for the program and the opportunity to study abroad in both Costa Rica and Italy during her first year.

A friend from the PEGS program introduced her to Jonathan McMurry, a biochemistry professor in the College of Science and Mathematics, since Didier was eager to explore scientific research as an undergraduate.

Hope was so obviously driven, intelligent, and genuinely interested in research, McMurry said. I saw untapped potential in her as a freshman, and thats the type of student researcher every professor wants to encounter.

Didier evolved into an accomplished and disciplined researcher, focusing on using cell-penetrating peptides, or short chains of amino acids, to deliver biomolecular cargo into cervical cancer cells to stop cell growth and catalyze cell death.

She presented aspects of her work at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research twice, and Posters at the Georgia State Capitol in 2020. She won the Top Poster Award at the Birla Carbon Symposium, in which she spent the entire summer conducting research, and received the Anthony Shuker Scientific Award at the Georgia BioInnovation Summit, both in 2018.

Didiers research interests in the healthcare field carried over into volunteering and conducting research at the Emory Winship Cancer Institute and working in the trauma/surgery ICU at Wellstar Health Systems Kennestone Hospital as an operating room surgical technician.

I witnessed firsthand the frontlines of the global pandemic and had the terrifying privilege of holding the hands of critically ill and dying patients, Didier said. It was physically and emotionally challenging, but also made it increasingly clearer to me that I am meant to serve patients and advocate for the very best healthcare practices.

Ultimately, the Peachtree City, Ga. native knew that her trajectory would lean more toward a career in medicine.

Classes like kinesiology and nutrition and learning the way the body moves and works has opened my eyes to how I could meld my two passions, she explained. Im going to keep dancing as part of my life, whether Im teaching on the side or doing small work for studios or companies.

As part of KSU Journey Honors College, Didier completed two Honors theses one in biology on the deterioration and death of cervical cancer cells and the other in dance, focused on a kinesiological approach for understanding the biological phenomenon of programmed cell death.

Didier credits the dance program for expanding her knowledge and techniques, preparing her for any aspect of dance. She learned about the production side of dance from part-time instructor David Tatu, and worked alongside him last spring on a unique production, Moon Dust, a collaboration between the College of the Arts and the College of Computing and Software Engineering.

As an artist and a scientist, I have found that there is this shared zeal for inquiry and constant curiosity, which makes solving problems and creating art so exciting, she said. My two worlds have a lot to learn from one another, and I look forward to future opportunities in which my passions can come together to create something beautiful and share knowledge in an innovative way.

Now Didier is ready to take on the next challenge, pursuing a doctorate in molecular medicine and translational science at Wake Forest University. She will then transition into the physician assistant program in the Wake Forest School of Medicine.

My entire time at KSU has been a massive highlight of my life and always will be, Didier said. The people are what make KSU amazing, and for that I am eternally grateful.

Jolle Walls

Photos by David Caselli

A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees to its more than 41,000 students. With 11 colleges on two metro Atlanta campuses, Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia and the second-largest university in the state. The universitys vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the region and from 126 countries across the globe. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 6 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.

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Kennesaw State graduate blends arts and science, evolves as researcher - News

Biochemistry

UV Fingerprint Developed By Scientists From Mendel University May Help With Criminal Investigations – Brno Daily

The Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry of Mendel University in Brno has developed a simple procedure for identifying liquids, including food and drugs. The technique has promising implications for criminal investigations.Photo Credit: Mendelu.cz.

Brno, Jul 30 (BD) Scientists from the Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry of Mendel University in Brno have developed a simple technique for identifying samples of food and drugs according to their fluorescence, known as a UV fingerprint. This allows detection of cases where, for example, the technological process has changed during the production of juices, and also allows analysts to determine the origin of wine or drugs.

This new procedure has a wide application, said Luk Nejdl, the head of the bioanalysis and imaging laboratory at Mendel Universitys Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and also has promising implications for criminal investigators.

The technology is based on a simple principle, using the spectral characteristics of the sample.We illuminate the sample with UV radiation and thus cause a number of interesting photochemical reactions that are specific to the sample, said Nejdl. After a few minutes, it is possible to say from where and what it originated, depending on the spectral characteristics, for example, whether its a variety of wine or a type of juice.

Based on this principle, virtually any liquid sample can be illuminated, including biological samples, pesticides, food, clinical samples such as urine, serum, plasma, blood, or medicine, including drugs.

We test individual samples and try to find applications in practice.We are also looking for partners in the commercial and public spheres,said Nejdl. His team is so far working mostly with wines, specifically analyzing white wine varieties. From just a drop of commonly sold white wine, theUV fingerprint canidentify the wine by comparison with the database.The new method can assist significantly in the area of wine authentication, identification, and fingerprinting.

Researchers are also starting cooperation with the Czech Police, who have a new department trying to develop new analytical procedures from the work of forensic scientists, which could be used in the course of their investigations.The method is also suitable for detecting counterfeit drugs or profiling addictive substances in order to determine who prepared the drug.

This method could have a very interesting future in forensic practice, as we would be able to detect different types of poisons and certain groups of drugs in the field.An interesting idea may be its use in the biological sector,said Radim Pernick from the Prague Police Presidiums Department for Science, Research and Innovation.

As with penicillin, the original discovery of the Mendel University scientists was an accident.When they needed orange juice for their experiments, they noticed that samples of this drink always behaved differently. What seemed like a complication for the original experiment raised the unexpected question: what if someone needed to detect differences in seemingly identical substances?

Scientists are now expanding their efforts to include material chemistry, specifically the UV synthesis of a number of interesting nanomaterials.

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UV Fingerprint Developed By Scientists From Mendel University May Help With Criminal Investigations - Brno Daily

Biochemistry

New cancer treatments can be tested in artificial cells on tiny chips the size of a postage stamp – The Conversation CA

It usually takes 10 to 15 years to develop a new drug, and they cost around US$2.6 billion each. Because its difficult to predict how a drug candidate will interact with human cells, many drugs never pass clinical trials. Testing new drugs on human cells is expensive and complicated, so it is difficult to do early in the development of a drug.

To help solve this problem, my research group has built designer artificial cells on a chip the size of a postage stamp. These artificial cells mimic how cells degrade during cancer. This makes it possible to test new drugs early in drug discovery (the process of drug development), and see whether theyre likely to work.

Our artificial cells are designed to give us early insight into how new cancer drugs behave in cells, and why certain kinds of cancer are more resistant to chemotherapy treatment.

My research group at the University of Victoria builds artificial cells and tissues for drug discovery using microfluidic chips. Elanna Stephenson, one of my graduate students, performed the cancer cell research that this story is based on. We work at the interface of engineering, biochemistry and pharmacology, and as a result, our research is very interdisciplinary.

Cells are complex and made up of many different components. Even the cell membrane (the skin of the cell) is composed of many different types of molecules.

Given this complexity, it is difficult to reverse-engineer a cell from the top down to examine each type of molecule and its effect. Instead, our research aims to build artificial cells from the bottom up, to determine in isolation how each kind of molecule that makes up the cell membrane affects the ability of drugs to enter the cell.

We manipulate fluids on much smaller scales than in traditional laboratories using microfluidic devices called chips. Manipulation of fluids at these small scales generally measured in micrometres (one thousandth of a millimetre) is referred to as microfluidics.

Our microfluidic chips are made of a transparent polymer in which we imprint pipes. These pipes are the size of a human hair (100 micrometres, or one tenth of a millimetre), and in many ways are like miniaturizing a chemical manufacturing plant.

Read more: Microfluidics: The tiny, beautiful tech hidden all around you

In our microfluidic chip we create tiny droplets of water that are around the size of human cells, a process called droplet microfluidics. We design our chips so that we may manipulate and analyze each droplet independently. This is the engineering side of our research.

We cover the droplets with molecules that are similar to those found in the cell membrane of human cells to create artificial cells known as droplet interface bilayers (DIBs). Although these types of artificial cells have been around for over a decade, this is the first time theyve been used to mimic the breakdown in the composition of cell membranes that occurs during cancer.

This allowed us to reveal new insights into the behaviour of the chemotherapy drug doxorubicin when it is being absorbed by cells. This is the biochemistry side of our research.

Cell membranes are composed of two layers of molecules called phospholipids. Generally, these layers are not the same, which is called membrane asymmetry.

Cancer causes this membrane asymmetry to degrade, and the two layers become much more similar in terms of their composition. We were able to model this breakdown of the membrane using our artificial cells. We tested how well doxorubicin was able to enter these artificial cells when they were asymmetric, and when they were symmetric.

We found that the degree of asymmetry of the artificial cells affects how fast doxorubicin enters the artificial cell. This highlights another possible reason why drugs stop working effectively (chemoresistance) against some forms of cancer. This is the pharmacology side of our research.

Our research demonstrates the importance of closely replicating both the composition and the structural features of cell membranes when studying a new drug.

The current approach to research for drug development means that we dont understand how drugs will behave in the human body until far too late in the drug discovery process. This is costly in terms of the money and time required for drug development, and ultimately may postpone potentially life-saving treatments for patients.

Our artificial cells could be a new method to accurately predict drug behaviour in the human body very early in the drug discovery process.

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New cancer treatments can be tested in artificial cells on tiny chips the size of a postage stamp - The Conversation CA

Immunology

EXTENDED INTERVIEW: Marc Jenkins Director of Immunology at the University of Minnesota Medical School – KARE11.com

Two studies show evidence that natural immunity can last at least a year against the Alpha variant, but the strength of immunity is unclear against other variants.

Author: kare11.com

Published: 7:32 PM CDT July 25, 2021

Updated: 7:32 PM CDT July 25, 2021

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EXTENDED INTERVIEW: Marc Jenkins Director of Immunology at the University of Minnesota Medical School - KARE11.com

Immunology

Infinitus Co-Organizes the 11th National Conference on Immunology of Traditional Chinese Medicine – Yahoo Finance

GUANGZHOU, China, July 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The 11th National Conference on Immunology of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) organized by the Immunology of Traditional Chinese Medicine Branch of the Chinese Society for Immunology (CSI) in partnership with Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine was held in China's Shandong Province from July 21 to July 23, 2021. Co-organizer Infinitus (China) Company Ltd. attended the events held during the conference.

Dr. Zhu Ying, senior R&D engineer of the health food department of Infinitus, delivering a keynote speech at the event

As a national professional academic event in the field of immunology of TCM, the biennial conference plays a key role in TCM immunology research. As a company which has always been committed to research into and collaboration around the immunology of Chinese herbal medicines, Infinitus has co-organized several consecutive editions of the conference.

During the conference, immunology experts from across China gathered together to discuss a wide range of topics including immunopharmacology and pharmacodynamics of TCM, research on prevention and treatment of COVID-19 through incorporation of immunology of TCM into the process, immunology and TCM theory, immunology and acupuncture, as well as the technological development of immunology and its applications in TCM research.

At the conference, Dr. Zhu Ying, senior R&D engineer of the health food department of Infinitus, delivered a keynote speech entitled "R&D Strategy for Immunoregulatory Functional Food". During her speech, Dr. Zhu shared Infinitus' strategy and experience in developing health foods, which covered the areas of the elements of high quality products, the methods of R&D, the analyses of consumer expectations, as well as the selection and optimization of efficacy evaluation models.

Infinitus, the health industry player, plans to continue its efforts on the development of immunology of TCM, keep digging into the research on the Chinese herbal polysaccharides which have immunoregulatory functions, keep providing consumers with high quality health products, and help accelerate the growth of the health industry.

SOURCE Infinitus (China) Company Ltd.

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Infinitus Co-Organizes the 11th National Conference on Immunology of Traditional Chinese Medicine - Yahoo Finance

Immunology

Macomics, the Macrophage-based Drug Discovery company, secures 4.24m expansion financing, and appoints CEO, CSO and VP Immunology – Business Wire

EDINBURGH, Scotland & CAMBRIDGE, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Macomics Ltd, an immuno-oncology company with world-leading expertise in macrophage biology, announces today that it has closed a follow-on financing of 4.24 million from its 2020 Seed round, bringing the total amount raised to 7.44m.

The additional investment brings in new investor Caribou Property Limited alongside existing investors Epidarex Capital, who led the round, and Scottish Enterprise. It will be used to accelerate the companys growth, including expansion of the team.

Macomics is developing precision medicines to modulate macrophages for the treatment of cancer. The company was co-founded in 2019 by Prof Jeffrey Pollard and Dr Luca Cassetta, University of Edinburgh, internationally recognised leaders in macrophage biology. It is progressing a diversified portfolio of therapies targeting disease specific tumour associated macrophages (TAMs) towards the clinic. Its target discovery platform enables identification and validation of novel macrophage therapeutic targets and is based on its deep understanding of macrophage biology. The new investment and planned Series A will enable the company to accelerate progress of its antibody programs towards the clinic, expand its portfolio, and further invest in its target discovery technology.

Cancer cells are known to be able to evade destruction by the immune system and TAMs are a key component of this immuno-suppressive and pro-tumoral ecosystem. Modulating TAMs will alter the tumour microenvironment enhancing the bodys ability to fight cancer. The tumour microenvironment changes macrophage behaviour, and the company is exploiting disease specific TAM biology to selectively target these immunosuppressive cells.

Alongside the financing, the company announces the expansion of its leadership team with the appointment of Dr Myatt as Chief Executive Officer and Dr Ries as Chief Scientific Officer, as well as Dr Cassetta who will join as VP Immunology on 1 August.

Dr Steve Myatt, CEO who joined Macomics in February 2021 said:

Macomics has made great progress since formation, and I am excited to lead Macomics in driving forward its vision to become a leading immuno-oncology company pioneering macrophage-based therapies for the treatment of cancer. Our diversified portfolio of antibody programs combined with our proprietary target identification approach and world-class team uniquely positions us to deliver on this vision.

Dr Carola Ries, who joins as Chief Scientific Officer from 16 years at Roche added:

It is an exciting time to be joining Macomics. In recognising disease specific TAM populations Macomics is taking a new approach to macrophage-based drug discovery, one that I believe has potential to deliver significant benefit to patients. By combining analysis of human disease tissue, in silico data mining, and functional data from our state-of-the-art cellular models we are well placed to identify and validate new drug targets in diseases where macrophages play a central role. I look forward to applying my extensive industry experience gained at Roche to driving our programs towards the clinic.

Commenting on his full-time move into the company, Dr Luca Cassetta, said:

Macomics was founded based on leading academic research around macrophage biology, particularly in cancer, from the laboratory of Professor Jeffrey Pollard, Director of the MRC Centre for Reproductive Health at the University of Edinburgh, as well as my own research studying TAMs. I am delighted to be joining the company full-time to exploit the potential of macrophage-based approaches to developing novel immuno-oncology therapies that have the potential to change the lives of patients with cancer.

Dr Elizabeth Roper, Partner at Epidarex Capital and Investor Director at Macomics said:

We are delighted with the progress that Macomics has made since we made our initial investment last year. The company has demonstrated the power of its platform and approach and has already moved two of its programs into antibody discovery and identified a series of additional targets. We are excited about its potential, reflected in our increased commitment to the company.

She added On behalf of the board, I am pleased to welcome Steve, Carola and Luca to the team. Their experience in biotech, pharma and academia are highly complementary and broaden and deepen the skills of the leadership team.

Georges Aboud, Chief Investment Officer at Caribou Property, commented: "We are pleased to join the investment round, having seen the progress Macomics has made in just over 12 months. Our goal is to back exciting and innovative companies that can make an impact on patients' lives. Macomics has shown that its knowledge of macrophage biology can deliver innovative approaches to treat cancer and it has assembled an experienced team to maximise its potential."

Jan Robertson, Interim Director of Growth Investments at Scottish Enterprise, added: This funding round secured by Macomics is testament to the companys pioneering macrophage-based therapies for the treatment of cancer as well as the talent in Scotland. Scottish Enterprise is pleased to support this leading biotech firm that is now set to accelerate its research and development programmes, and expand its facilities in Edinburgh.

Macomics has expanded its R&D and office facilities on the Cambridge Science Park and has taken additional laboratory and cell culture space within Edinburgh University, and will be expanding its scientific team to support its accelerated R&D.

-Ends-

About Macomics http://www.macomics.com

Macomics Ltd is an immuno-oncology company with world-leading expertise in macrophage biology, developing precision medicines to modulate macrophages for the treatment of cancer. The company is progressing a diversified portfolio of therapies targeting disease specific tumour associated macrophages (TAMs) towards the clinic. Its target discovery platform enables identification and validation of novel macrophage therapeutic targets and is based on its deep understanding of macrophage biology.

Macomics was co-founded in 2019 by Prof. Jeffrey Pollard and Dr. Luca Cassetta, University of Edinburgh, internationally recognised leaders in macrophage biology. It has R&D and office facilities in Edinburgh and Cambridge, UK and is backed by Epidarex Capital, Scottish Enterprise, and Caribou Property Limited.

Follow us on LinkedIn and https://twitter.com/MacomicsL

About the new appointments

Dr Steve Myatt, Chief Executive Officer

Dr Myatt joined Macomics in February 2021 and previously served as Chief Executive Officer at Azeria Therapeutics, where he led the companys $44mn Series B financing. Prior, he was Partner at venture capital firm Sixth Element Capital, managing a $95mn oncology venture fund focussed on building early-stage companies and supporting the progression of therapeutic programs from discovery to early clinic. Successful fund exits include transactions with Novartis, Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Sierra Oncology, Boston Pharmaceuticals, Stemline Therapeutics, and Achilles Therapeutics (NASDAQ). Companies in which Sixth Element Capital invested as a founding investor have to date raised over $325mn. Steve began his career at Cancer Research Technology, responsible for identifying new academic drug discovery opportunities in Cambridge UK and was latterly Head of Alliances, Business Development, establishing multiple drug discovery partnerships between Pharma, biotech and academia. Steve has a first-class degree in Pharmacology and a PhD in paediatric oncology.

Dr Carola Ries, Chief Scientific Officer

Dr Ries joined Macomics in July 2021 and has over 20 years of immunology and drug discovery experience and is an internationally recognised expert in macrophage immunology. She formally led Roches innate immunity department in cancer immunotherapy and was a member of the pRED immunotherapy discovery leadership team. Dr Ries led the discovery of emactuzumab (CSF1R program) and contributed to its clinical translation, identifying a clinical population in which emactuzumab provided significant clinical benefit. Earlier in her career Dr Ries was a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. McCormick at UCSF, where she discovered her passion for oncology. Dr Ries has over 35 publications and is a named in inventor on over 10 patents.

Dr Luca Cassetta, VP Immunology and Founder

Dr. Cassetta is a co-Founder of Macomics and is an immunologist with in-depth knowledge of human myeloid cell biology applied to different human diseases. He obtained a PhD in immunology at the S.Raffaele Institute in Milan studying the role of macrophage polarization in HIV pathogenesis; he then moved to NY at the Albert Einstein Medical college in the lab of Prof. Jeffrey Pollard where he studied Tumor Associated Macrophages in breast cancer. He then moved to the University of Edinburgh continuing his studies on TAMs where he established his own lab as principal investigator. His extensive experience in human macrophage biology contributed to the development of the Macomics screening platform. Dr Cassetta is an author of multiple publications in high-impact international scientific journals including Cancer Cell, Nature Communications, Journal of Experimental Medicine, Blood, PNAS, Nature Reviews Drug Discovery. Dr Cassetta joins Macomics in August 2021.

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Macomics, the Macrophage-based Drug Discovery company, secures 4.24m expansion financing, and appoints CEO, CSO and VP Immunology - Business Wire

Immunology

Study Shows Improved Tolerance with Second COVID-19 Vaccine – MD Magazine

Ever since the COVID-19 vaccines were approved for the public population, conversations have persisted regarding their efficacy, especially regarding people who had immediate allergic reactions with the first dose.

Despite this, a multicenter, retrospective study confirmed that most patients with immediate and potentially allergic reactions to the COVID-19 vaccines tolerated the 2nd dose.

In an interview with HCPLive, 2 of the leading authors of the study, Kimberly Blumenthal, MD, MSc, Quality and Safety Officer for Allergy, Massachusetts General Hospital, Co-Director, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Division of Rheumatology Allergy and Immunology and Matthew Krantz, MD, Clinical Fellow, Allergy/Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center spoke of the genesis of the study as well as the data gathered on reactions from participants.

Prior to the study, the team targeted healthcare workers who had received some of the first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines.

One of the unexpected observations early on after emergency use authorization in December of 2020 where we primarily targeted vaccinating healthcare workers was we did observe a higher rate of immediate potentially allergic reactions and anaphylaxis than with traditional vaccines, Krantz said.

Krantz, Blumenthal and colleagues set out to find if participants in the study were truly allergic to the COVID-19 vaccines.

If you're allergic to something, you have an IgE antibody, [so] you have to avoid it, Blumenthal said. Thats really important for mRNA vaccines: were people forming true, classic allergy to these vaccines?

From January 1, 2021-March 31, 2021, the investigators enrolled 189 patients from participating centers, all of whom recorded an immediate reaction to their first Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine.

Patient population demographics showed that the mean age of all patients was 43 years, and that most of the total population (86%) were women. Of the vaccine first-dose reactions, 130 (69%) were Moderna and 59 (31%) were Pfizer-BioNTech.

Allergic reactions were defined as symptom onset within 4 hours of dose 1, at least 1 allergic symptom, and referral for an allergy/immunology consultation with in-clinic or tele-heath assessment.

Anaphylaxis was scored using the Brighton and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network Criteria.

Blumenthal, Krantz and colleagues defined second dose tolerance as 1 of the following:

1. No immediate symptoms after second dose administration

2. Symptoms that were mild, self-limited and/or resolved with antihistamines

Phone calls regarding clinical details were made for individuals who did not have their second dose observed by allergy/immunology departments.

The investigators noted that the most frequently reported first-dose reactions in patients were flushing or erythema (28%), dizziness or lightheadedness (26%), tingling (24%), throat tightness (22%), and hives (21%), and 32 participants (21%) met the anaphylaxis criteria.

Encouragingly, 159 patients as well as 19 individuals who experienced first-dose anaphylaxis tolerated the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Only 20% of participants reported immediate and potentially allergic symptoms associated with the second dose, which were either self-limited, mild, or resolved with antihistamines alone.

Additionally, most of the participants in the study (89%) received the second dose, and 47 patients (30%) were given an antihistamine premedication before the second dose.

It's important to note that in terms of classic IgE allergy, we do not expect premedications to abort a reaction, Krantz said. But, in the case of a non-IgE mediated reaction, antihistamines can also blunt or make these reactions (milder).

The effectiveness of the drugs on some patients supported the hypothesis that the participants did not have to avoid the COVID-19 vaccines, as they did not have whats considered a classic allergy response.

Blumenthal also noted the effectiveness of the premedication and clarified that the study was not intended to recommend a specific medication, as each patient was treated with individual methods depending on what their allergist felt was appropriate.

Everybody had a different [recommendation], Blumenthal said. This study wasn't designed to test how best to get from a dose 1 immediate reaction to safe dose 2 completion. But it gives us a hint that it's largely possible.

Blumenthal noted that further research might explore the possibilities of a specific premedication or treatment methods for patients who had a reaction to the COVID-19 vaccines, especially considering the possibilities of COVID-19 vaccine boosters in the coming fall season.

What we really need is a prospective study when it comes to the booster doses, Blumenthal said. So, prospective, meaning that we enroll people who had reactions before (and) who didn't have reactions, and we have them diary their medication so that we can piece out what premedication regimen might work.

Blumenthal and Krantz both noted the potential for improvement in identifying allergic reactions in patients regarding the COVID-19 vaccines and general vaccines.

The study, Safety Evaluation of the Second Dose of Messenger RNA COVID-19 Vaccines in Patients With Immediate Reactions to the First Dose, was published online in JAMA Internal Medicine.

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Study Shows Improved Tolerance with Second COVID-19 Vaccine - MD Magazine

Immunology

Ireland getting "very close to the end of the pandemic", says Immunology Professor – JOE.ie

Immunology Professor Paul Moynagh has said that Ireland is getting "very close to the end of the pandemic" and closer to moving to an "endemic phase".

Moynagh, who is Professor of Immunology at Maynooth University, said that while the virus will still be "circulating in the background", most people will be "protected" via vaccination or natural immunity.

Moynaghtold Newstalk Breakfast that things could be taking a positive turn in spite of increasing case numbers over the last number of weeks.

A number of weeks ago, the projections were not very good, we were hearing very large numbers," he said.

Now what we seem to be seeing is a decrease in the day-to-day increase we had been seeing. The percentage of those cases ending up in hospital is going down the duration of hospital stays is going down.

He added that Ireland and other countries in the UK and Europe could be getting close to the "end of the pandemic phase".

I think were getting to the stage where a number of countries like ourselves, the UK and most countries in Europe - are getting very close to the end of the pandemic phase, and will probably move more into an endemic phase," he added.

The virus will be circulating in the background, but thankfully most of us will be protected by either vaccination or natural immunity through infection.

Moynagh's comments come as 1,408 cases of Covid-19 were reported across Ireland on Wednesday, just 2% of which were hospitalised cases.

Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Tony Holohan said on Wednesday that Ireland might be in a position "in the coming weeks" to move away from some economic and social Covid-19 restrictions.

During a Department of Health press briefing he said: "If we keep pushing on with the kinds of uptake rates we've seen in some of the older age groups, which by international standards are some of the best in the world, that gives us a lot of reason for optimism that the conditions that we think will need to be satisfied to allow us to move away from some of the restrictions that still remain in place could be met."

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Ireland getting "very close to the end of the pandemic", says Immunology Professor - JOE.ie

Immunology

iShares – iShares Genomics Immunology and Healthcare ETF (IDNA) gains 0.04% in Active Trading on July 29 – Equities.com

Last Price$ Last TradeChange$ Change Percent %Open$ Prev Close$ High$ low$ 52 Week High$ 52 Week Low$ Market CapPE RatioVolumeExchange

IDNA - Market Data & News

iShares Trust - iShares Genomics Immunology and Healthcare ETF (NYSE: IDNA) gained to close at $50.03 Thursday after gaining $0.02 (0.04%) on volume of 107,527 shares. The stock ranged from a high of $50.52 to a low of $49.80 while iShares - iShares Genomics Immunology and Healthcare ETFs market cap now stands at $327,696,500.

Visit iShares Trust - iShares Genomics Immunology and Healthcare ETFs profile for more information.

The New York Stock Exchange is the worlds largest stock exchange by market value at over $26 trillion. It is also the leader for initial public offerings, with $82 billion raised in 2020, including six of the seven largest technology deals. 63% of SPAC proceeds in 2020 were raised on the NYSE, including the six largest transactions.

To get more information on iShares Trust - iShares Genomics Immunology and Healthcare ETF and to follow the companys latest updates, you can visit the companys profile page here: iShares Trust - iShares Genomics Immunology and Healthcare ETFs Profile. For more news on the financial markets be sure to visit Equities News. Also, dont forget to sign-up for the Daily Fix to receive the best stories to your inbox 5 days a week.

Sources: Chart is provided by TradingView based on 15-minute-delayed prices. All other data is provided by IEX Cloud as of 8:05 pm ET on the day of publication.

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iShares - iShares Genomics Immunology and Healthcare ETF (IDNA) gains 0.04% in Active Trading on July 29 - Equities.com

Immunology

New Approach for Cell Therapy Shows Potential Against Solid Tumors with KRAS Mutations – pennmedicine.org

Adham Bear, MD, PhD, Mark O'Hara, MD, Gerald P. Linette, MD, PhD, Beatriz M. Carreno, PhD, and Robert H. Vonderheide, MD, DPhil.

PHILADELPHIAA new technology for cellular immunotherapy developed by Abramson Cancer Center researchers at Penn Medicine showed promising anti-tumor activity in the lab against hard-to-treat cancers driven by the once-considered undruggable KRAS mutation, including lung, colorectal, and pancreatic.

The study, published online in Nature Communications, successfully demonstrated using human cells that a T-cell receptor, or TCR, therapy could be designed to mobilize an immune system attack on mutated KRAS solid tumors and shrink them. The preclinical work has laid the groundwork for the first-in-human clinical trial now in the planning stages for the treatment of advanced pancreatic cancer in patients whose tumors harbor specific KRAS mutations and express a specific type of human leukocyte antigen, or HLA, the therapy is built to recognize.

Weve shown that targeting mutant KRAS immunologically is feasible and potentially generalizable for a group of patients with lung, colorectal and pancreatic tumors, said senior author Beatriz M. Carreno, PhD, an associate professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and a member of the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies, the Abramson Cancer Center, and Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at Penn. We look forward to taking this research to the next level and closer to clinical study.

KRAS mutations are among the most prevalent mutations observed in cancers and have been shown to drive tumor development and growth. Only recently have targeted therapies been shown to successfully treat a specific KRAS mutation found most commonly in lung cancer; however, no treatments currently exist for the majority of other KRAS mutations more prevalent in other tumor types. Immunological targeting of mutant KRAS represents an alternative treatment approach but has been less studied and understood.

Using a multiomics approach, the Penn team identified specific neoantigens associated with mutations at the G12 site on the KRAS gene. Neoantigens are protein fragments that form on the cancer cell surface when certain mutations occur in tumor DNA. More than 75 percent of the alterations in the KRAS protein occur at G12, making it an ideal site to target with therapies.

Armed with this knowledge, the researchers tested a TCR therapy directed toward specific KRAS G12 mutations present in conjunction with particular HLA types highly prevalent among patients. They showed in a mouse tumor model that it was effective at attacking and eliminating tumor cells. HLAs are an important part of the immune system because they encode cell surface molecules that present specific neoantigens to the T-cell receptors on T cells.

In other words, HLAs are key genetic codes needed for these engineered T cells to find and attack tumors.

The research further supports the use of neoantigens for targeting tumor cells, for both cellular therapy and cancer vaccines, which have been underway at Penn Medicine and elsewhere.

Importantly, the neoantigen and HLA information from this latest study is being used to develop TCR therapies to treat solid tumors, as well as new cancer vaccines. Based off these latest findings, the team initiated a vaccine clinical trial led by Mark OHara, MD, an assistant professor of Hematology-Oncology at Penn and co-author on the study, in pancreatic cancer targeting mutated KRAS.

The first clinical trial for the TCR therapy is projected to launch as soon as 2022, depending on regulatory approval, at Penns Abramson Cancer Center for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer who have both the KRAS mutation and specific HLA types identified in this latest studywhich could represent up to 10 percent of patients with pancreatic cancer. The study opens the door, however, to expand the patient population as researchers continue to discover more about the neoantigens derived from regions of the KRAS gene and other mutated oncogenes implicated in driving cancer.

We provide evidence that this oncogenic protein is a very promising clinical target of immune-based therapies, said lead author Adham Bear, MD, PhD, an instructor in the division of Hematology-Oncology at Penn and member of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at Penn. The goal, now that we have identified these neoantigens and T cell receptors, is to translate these findings and apply them to develop new therapies at Penn.

Robert H. Vonderheide, MD, DPhil, director of the Abramson Cancer Center, and Gerald P. Linette, MD, PhD, a professor of Medicine in the Perelman School of Medicine, served as co-authors.

The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (R01 CA204261, P30 CA016520, CA196539 and CA232568), The Stand Up to Cancer/Lustgarten Foundation Pancreatic Cancer Collective, the Penn Institute for Immunology, and the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy.

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New Approach for Cell Therapy Shows Potential Against Solid Tumors with KRAS Mutations - pennmedicine.org