3/19
Immunology
Penn Medicine CAR T therapy expert Carl June receives 2022 Keio Medical Science Prize
The award from Japan’s oldest private university honors outstanding contributions to medicine and life sciences.
T cells that ‘nibble’ tumors unwittingly help cancer evade the immune response
Blocking this process, known as trogocytosis, improved the ability of a CAR T cell therapy to treat cancer in mice, according to research led by School of Veterinary Medicine scientists.
Monkeypox: What is known and unknown
The current outbreak of monkeypox is showing no sign of slowing. Stuart Isaacs of the Perelman School of Medicine, an expert on poxviruses, sheds light on the disease, its prevention and treatment, and what to watch for this fall.
Cancer cells selectively load ‘drones’ to keep T cells from infiltrating tumors
Biologist Wei Guo and colleagues elucidate the process of sorting and loading cargo for these biological drones with implications for a more targeted and effective use of checkpoint inhibitor drugs in cancer treatment.
Deconstructing the mechanics of bone marrow disease
A new understanding of how mechanical features of bone marrow affect resident immune cells in a fibrotic cancer points to future therapeutic strategies for cancers and fibrotic diseases.
One protein’s role in genomic intermingling and T cell development
The findings, from a team led by Golnaz Vahedi of Penn Medicine, could have implications for T-cell based immunotherapies for cancer and other conditions.
Regulating the regulators of the immune system
Research led by School of Veterinary Medicine scientists reveals a new layer of complexity with which the immune system finds a balance between controlling pathogens and protecting healthy tissue.
CAR T cells suppress GI solid tumor cells without toxicity to healthy tissue
New research finds that CAR T cells can eliminate solid tumors, but do not damage healthy, normal tissues that also express a tumor antigen, because the tumor antigen is sequestered and hidden between the normal cells.
Decade-long remission after CAR T cell therapy
Two patients represent longest-known CAR T cell response to date, providing insight into treatment effect and outcomes.
First-in-human trial with CAR macrophages shows promise targeting solid tumors
A new Penn study demonstrates that engineered macrophages, which can be targeted to tumors, may be a possible new immune-based treatment of some cancers.
In the News
The mRNA miracle workers
Nobel laureates Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman of the Perelman School of Medicine appear on “Sunday Morning” to discuss their careers, their mRNA research, and the COVID-19 vaccines.
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Blood tests can help diagnose Alzheimer’s—if they’re accurate enough. Not all are
Virginia Man-Yee Lee of the Perelman School of Medicine says it’s likely in the future that anyone older than 60 will get an Alzheimer’s test.
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AI detects cancers and immunotherapy biomarker
Daiwei Zhang and Mingyao Li of the Perelman School of Medicine and colleagues have developed an AI tool called iStar that can automatically spot tumors and types of cancer that are difficult for clinicians to see or identify and can predict candidates for immunotherapy.
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Godfather of mRNA vaccines reveals plans to immunize people against cancer years before tumors strike to ‘the disease from ever appearing’
Drew Weissman of the Perelman School of Medicine, who won the Nobel Prize for mRNA vaccines along with Katalin Karikó, is researching an mRNA vaccine against cancer.
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Is the flu shot market a slam dunk for mRNA vaccines? Experts aren’t so sure
Scott Hensley of the Perelman School of Medicine is working on a flu vaccine to provide protection against 20 subtypes of flu that may pose a pandemic threat in the future.
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Trial results offer hope to Kiwis with ‘incurable’ blood cancer
Carl June of the Perelman School of Medicine praises New Zealand research into a new CAR T-cell cancer treatment for patients with blood cancer.
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