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

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

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

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

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

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

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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.

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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.

Penn Medicineis one of the worlds leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. Penn Medicine consists of theRaymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania (founded in 1765 as the nations first medical school) and theUniversity of Pennsylvania Health System, which together form a $8.9 billion enterprise.

The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top medical schools in the United States for more than 20 years, according toU.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $496 million awarded in the 2020 fiscal year.

The University of Pennsylvania Health Systems patient care facilities include: the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Presbyterian Medical Centerwhich are recognized as one of the nations top Honor Roll hospitals byU.S. News & World ReportChester County Hospital; Lancaster General Health; Penn Medicine Princeton Health; and Pennsylvania Hospital, the nations first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional facilities and enterprises include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, Penn Medicine at Home, Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital, and Princeton House Behavioral Health, among others.

Penn Medicine is powered by a talented and dedicated workforce of more than 44,000 people. The organization also has alliances with top community health systems across both Southeastern Pennsylvania and Southern New Jersey, creating more options for patients no matter where they live.

Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2020, Penn Medicine provided more than $563 million to benefit our community.

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

Immunology

Fighting off food poisoning depends on the time of day – UT Southwestern

Scanning electron micrograph shows segmented filamentous bacteria attaching to the intestinal surface of a mouse. More bacteria attach during the night than during the day. Credit: John F. Brooks II

DALLAS July 28, 2021 The bodys ability to prevent food poisoning by producing a natural antimicrobial compound increases during the day, when exposure to noxious bacteria is most likely, a new study by UT Southwestern scientists suggests. The findings, published online in Cell, could eventually lead to timed therapies and vaccination regimens designed to maximize this immune response.

John F. Brooks II, Ph.D.

This study shows that our immune systems are not turned on all the time, which is an unexpected result, says study leader John F. Brooks II, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Lora Hooper, Ph.D., study co-leader and professor of immunology and microbiology at UTSW. Our findings suggest that there are peak times in which the body is more primed to fight infections.

Researchers have long known that virtually all animals follow circadian cycles that are tied to sunrise and sunset. These cycles allow animals to anticipate and prepare for changes in their environment. Disrupting circadian rhythms can have serious health consequences; for example, chronic sleep disruption is related to increased intestinal infection in humans. However, why this occurs has been unclear.

Lora Hooper, Ph.D.

Brooks, Hooper, and their colleagues suspected that antibacterial immunity might change in the intestines on a circadian cycle. To investigate this idea, the researchers looked for rhythms in the expression of natural antimicrobial agents produced in the gut of mice to fight foodborne illness. The researchers saw that in normal lab mice, one of these antimicrobial molecules known as regenerating islet-derived protein 3g (REG3G) was more abundant at night, when these nocturnal animals are active, and less so during the day, when mice sleep. However, in mice raised to have no gut bacteria, REG3G was essentially absent throughout both the day and the night.

Searching for the microbial components driving the rhythmic pattern, the researchers found that mice with cycling amounts of REG3G had large resident populations of segmented filamentous bacteria in their guts microbes typically present in rodents, nonhuman primates, and humans that have a unique ability to attach to the intestinal lining and change their hosts gene activity. Further experiments showed that these bacteria attached to the animals intestinal lining during feeding, probably to siphon off nutrients. When they attached, REG3G production ramped up in the intestines.

This cycling had significant consequences for the ability of mice to fight off infection. When the researchers infected normal mice with bacteria, the animals had higher bacterial burdens and rates of death if they were exposed at sunset than at sunrise. Mice that cant make antimicrobial proteins, including REG3G, had similarly high rates of bacterial burden and death regardless of when they were infected.

If further research shows this phenomenon also occurs in humans, scientists may eventually be able to capitalize on it by timing the administration of synthetic antibiotics for intestinal infections and oral vaccines or finding new ways to avoid intestinal infections altogether.

These results make me think twice about waking up in the middle of the night and raiding the refrigerator, Hooper says. It may be more dangerous to eat bacteria-laden potato salad when your gut defenses are lowest.

Other UTSW researchers who contributed to this study include Cassie L. Behrendt, Kelly A. Ruhn, Syann Lee, Prithvi Raj, and Joseph S. Takahashi.

This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01 DK070855), The Welch Foundation (I-1874), and the Walter M. and Helen D. Bader Center for Research on Arthritis and Autoimmune Diseases.

Hooper holds the Jonathan W. Uhr, M.D. Distinguished Chair in Immunology, the Nancy Cain and Jeffrey A. Marcus Scholar in Medical Research, in Honor of Dr. Bill S. Vowell, and is an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Takahashi holds the Loyd B. Sands Distinguished Chair in Neuroscience and is an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Brooks is a recipient of the highly competitive Howard Hughes Medical Institute Hanna Gray Fellowship.

About UTSouthwestern Medical Center

UT Southwestern, one of the nations premier academic medical centers, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. The institutions faculty has received six Nobel Prizes, and includes 25 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 16 members of the National Academy of Medicine, and 13 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators. The full-time faculty of more than 2,800 is responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and is committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UTSouthwestern physicians provide care in about 80 specialties to more than 117,000 hospitalized patients, more than 360,000 emergency room cases, and oversee nearly 3 million outpatient visits a year.

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Fighting off food poisoning depends on the time of day - UT Southwestern

Immunology

iShares Trust – iShares Genomics Immunology and Healthcare ETF (IDNA) falls 0.91% for July 27 – Equities.com

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IDNA - Market Data & News

Today, iShares Trust - iShares Genomics Immunology and Healthcare ETF Incs (NYSE: IDNA) stock fell $0.4424, accounting for a 0.91% decrease. iShares - iShares Genomics Immunology and Healthcare ETF opened at $48.92 before trading between $48.92 and $47.38 throughout Tuesdays session. The activity saw iShares - iShares Genomics Immunology and Healthcare ETFs market cap fall to $317,085,500 on 93,591 shares -above their 30-day average of 89,687.

Visit iShares Trust - iShares Genomics Immunology and Healthcare ETF's 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 company's latest updates, you can visit the company's profile page here: iShares Trust - iShares Genomics Immunology and Healthcare ETF's Profile. For more news on the financial markets be sure to visit Equities News. Also, don't forget to sign-up for the Daily Fix to receive the best stories to your inbox 5 days a week.

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DISCLOSURE:The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors, and do not represent the views of equities.com. Readers should not consider statements made by the author as formal recommendations and should consult their financial advisor before making any investment decisions. To read our full disclosure, please go to: http://www.equities.com/disclaimer

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iShares Trust - iShares Genomics Immunology and Healthcare ETF (IDNA) falls 0.91% for July 27 - Equities.com

Immunology

Call in the T-Cell Cavalry to Fight COVID in the Immunocompromised – MedPage Today

Last year was one of collective confinement. The majority of us shuttered our doors to visitors, worked from home, and ventured out sparingly in hopes of evading the grasp of COVID-19. Now in 2021, thanks to vaccination rollout, those who have been vaccinated are hopefully on the path to normalcy. But not everyone is so fortunate. For some, 2021 will bring more isolation and loneliness than ever before, which is hard to imagine. I'm talking about immunocompromised adults and children. While much of the rest of the populace clinks glasses, hugs loved ones, and joins parties, immunocompromised individuals do not have the security of an effective vaccine, and for their health and safety will maintain their distance and watch the social revelry from the sidelines.

The normal vaccine response that elicits antibodies and immune cells to fight infection are absent in these immunocompromised individuals, who fall into two categories: those living with congenital or acquired diseases that weaken their immune system, or those with pre-existing conditions whose treatment requires dampening of the immune system (e.g., patients with blood cancers or transplant recipients). This vulnerable population represents a sizable proportion of the U.S. population. A 2018-2019 analysis in JAMA Network Open estimated that 2.8% of adults in America were on a treatment regimen that dampened their immune system. That percentage may seem small but extrapolate it to the entire U.S. population and you hit 9 million vulnerable people. This doesn't even include immunocompromised individuals who are not taking immune-suppressing medication.

The plight of immune-compromised individuals has large-scale implications. This inability to combat the virus not only can be potentially life-threatening but can also lead to the continued evolution of mutant strains that infiltrate healthy populations. The so-called New York variant (B.1.526) was identified in a patient with advanced AIDS. Similarly, the highly transmissible and more deadly Alpha strain (B.1.1.7) emerged in a patient receiving immune suppressive treatment for a blood cancer.

So, while COVID-19 vaccines administered in the U.S. have been highly effective for mounting an antibody immune response in people with functional immune systems, it's not enough to vanquish the contagion. In our fight against virus infection, another critical arm of the immune system is required: The T-cell immune response. While antibodies may prevent infection, these warriors destroy already infected cells. And initial research suggests they may be active even in absence of antibodies.

Just recently, researchers (including myself) published a study in the Journal of Clinical Immunology that showed that pediatric patients with primary immune deficiencies, who often fail to make protective immune responses to infections and vaccinations, show robust T-cell activity and immunity against SARS-CoV-2. These findings are important because if T-cell responses to COVID-19 are protective in this highly vulnerable population, this could suggest that a COVID-19-directed T-cell immunotherapy might benefit other profoundly immunocompromised patients. However, we still don't know if such responses will persist to provide protective long-term immunity, especially against mutant strains of the virus.

Indeed, earlier findings published by me and my team in Blood, show T cells can be taken from the blood of recovered COVID-19 patients and multiplied in a lab, which could then be infused into bone marrow transplant patients whose immune systems can't fight the virus on their own. In effect, this creates an army of trained coronavirus fighters to potentially provide protective T-cell immunity long-term to these highly immunosuppressed patients. My team and I submitted this coronavirus-killing T-cell therapy (CST) clinical trial proposal to the FDA and have recently received approval to start this first-in-human clinical research protocol to treat these vulnerable patients who are currently falling through the cracks in the vaccine fight against COVID-19.

Ongoing research in the race to outpace the pandemic has helped us to increasingly unravel the prominent role of T cells in long-term immunity. A study published in Nature showed patients who recovered from the 2003 SARS epidemic, whose antibodies faded within 2 to 3 years, had a robust T-cell response to SARS 17 years later. These T cells also recognize the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein.

For immunocompromised patients, adoptive immunotherapy using T cells from recovered COVID-19 patients may be the answer when vaccines only offer partial protection. T cells could vanquish infected cells to limit the severity of disease or avoid hospitalization, and they remember a contagion for decades.

With the number of COVID-19 variants multiplying, this is an arms race. As a society, we need to deploy every weapon in our arsenal to ensure no one is left behind in the return to normalcy, especially not the most vulnerable. If antibodies were the infantry in our fight against the pandemic, then T cells are the cavalry. It's time we call them in.

Catherine Bollard, MD, MBChB, is the director of the Center for Cancer and Immunology Research at the Children's National Research Institute, director of the Program for Cell Enhancement and Technologies for Immunotherapy, and a member of the Division of the Blood and Marrow Transplantation at Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C.

Disclosures

Bollard is co-founder and on the scientific advisory boards for Catamaran Bio and Mana Therapeutics with stock and/or ownership; is on the Board of Directors for Cabaletta Bio with stock options; has stock in NexImmune and Repertoire Immune Medicines; and has submitted patent applications on SARS-CoV-2 T cells.

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Call in the T-Cell Cavalry to Fight COVID in the Immunocompromised - MedPage Today