Human Immunology News Volume 4.10 | Mar 15 2016

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    Human Immunology News 4.10 March 15, 2016

    Human Immunology News

         In this issue: Publications | Reviews | Science News | Industry News | Policy News | Events | Jobs
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    TOP STORY
    New Lupus Study Reveals Why the Body’s Immune Cells Cause So Much Damage
    Using blood samples from 88 healthy people and 217 lupus patients, researchers found that immune cells, which regulate the immune response and reduce inflammation, are instead being turned into autoantibody-producing B cells that cause inflammation. [Press release from University College London discussing publication in Immunity] Press Release | Full Article | Graphical Abstract
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    PUBLICATIONS (Ranked by impact factor of the journal)
    Broad Defects in the Energy Metabolism of Leukocytes Underlie Immunoparalysis in Sepsis
    By transcriptional and metabolic profiling of human patients with sepsis, researchers found that a shift from oxidative phosphorylation to aerobic glycolysis was an important component of initial activation of host defense. [Nat Immunol] Abstract

    A Cytomegalovirus Peptide-Specific Antibody Alters Natural Killer Cell Homeostasis and Is Shared in Several Autoimmune Diseases
    Investigators report the identification of an autoantibody that recognizes a group of peptides with a conserved motif matching the Pp150 protein of human cytomegalovirus and is shared among patients with various autoimmune diseases. [Cell Host Microbe] Abstract | Graphical Abstract

    Microfluidic Differential Immunocapture Biochip for Specific Leukocyte Counting
    Scientists developed a biosensor based on a differential immunocapture technology to enumerate specific cells in 30 minutes using 10 μl of blood. They provide a comprehensive stepwise protocol to replicate our biosensor for CD4 and CD8 cell counts. [Nat Protoc] Abstract | Press Release

    A Calcium-Redox Feedback Loop Controls Human Monocyte Immune Responses: The Role of ORAI Ca2+ Channels
    Researchers showed that ORAI Ca2+ channels control store-operated Ca2+ entry, reactive oxygen species production, and bacterial killing in primary human monocytes. [Sci Signal] Abstract

    Effects of Systemically Administered Hydrocortisone on the Human Immunome
    Scientists examined the changes in cellular and molecular immune system parameters, or “immunome”, in healthy humans after systemic corticosteroid administration. They performed comprehensive phenotyping of 120 lymphocyte subsets by high dimensional flow cytometry, and observed a decline in circulating specific B and T cell subsets, which reached their nadir 4–8 hours after administration of hydrocortisone. [Sci Rep] Full Article

    Continuous Time Bayesian Networks Identify Prdm1 as a Negative Regulator of TH17 Cell Differentiation in Humans
    Using continuous time Bayesian networks over a time-course gene expression dataset, researchers inferred the global regulatory network controlling T helper 17 (TH17) differentiation. From the network, they identified the Prdm1 gene encoding the B lymphocyte-induced maturation protein 1 as a crucial negative regulator of human TH17 cell differentiation. [Sci Rep] Full Article

    Interleukin-7 Promotes Human Regulatory T Cell Development at the CD4+CD8+ Double-Positive Thymocyte Stage
    The authors showed that at the CD4+CD8+ stage, FOXP3+ thymocytes are highly susceptible to apoptosis, and IL-7 selectively rescues them from death, leading to an increased frequency of FOXP3+ cells. IL-7 also promotes the development of regulatory T cell phenotype by inducing up-regulation of FOXP3+ and CTLA-4 expression. [J Leukoc Biol] Abstract

    The Tumor Antigen N-Glycolyl-GM3 Is a Human CD1d Ligand Capable of Mediating B Cell and Natural Killer T Cell Interaction
    Researchers demonstrated that CD1d binds to N-glycolyl-monosialodihexosyl-ganglioside (NGcGM3) and that human B lymphocytes present NGcGM3 in a CD1d context according to two alternative strategies. They also showed that paraformaldehyde treatment of cells expressing CD1d affects the presentation. [Cancer Immunol Immunother] Abstract

    JEG-3 Trophoblast Cells Producing Human Chorionic Gonadotropin Promote Conversion of Human CD4+FOXP3 T Cells into CD4+FOXP3+ Regulatory T Cells and Foster T Cell Suppressive Activity
    Scientists studied whether human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and hCG-producing human trophoblast cell lines induce Treg cells from CD4+FOXP3 T cells and promote T cell suppressive activity. [Biol Reprod] Abstract | Full Article

    Earlier Infantile Immune Maturation Is Related to Higher DTP Vaccine Responses in Children
    Researchers investigated whether early-life environmental factors and/or adaptive immune maturation were related to diphtheria–tetanus–pertussis (DTP) vaccine-specific antibody levels at 18 months of age. [Clin Transl Immunol] Full Article

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    REVIEWS
    Vaccines for Established Cancer: Overcoming the Challenges Posed by Immune Evasion
    Scientists summarize how therapeutic benefit can be maximized in patients with established cancers by improving vaccine design and by using vaccines to increase the effects of standard chemotherapies, to establish and/or maintain tumor-specific T cells that are re-energized by checkpoint blockade and other therapies, and to sustain the antitumor response of adoptively transferred T cells. [Nat Rev Cancer] Abstract

    The Future of Cancer Treatment: Immunomodulation, CARs and Combination Immunotherapy
    The authors highlight the latest advances in immunotherapy and discuss the role that it will have in the future of cancer treatment, including settings for which testing combination strategies and ‘armored’ CAR T cells are recommended. [Nat Rev Clin Oncol] Abstract

    NKT Cell Subsets as Key Participants in Liver Physiology and Pathology
    Investigators focus mainly on the roles of both natural killer T (NKT) cell subsets in the maintenance of immune tolerance and inflammatory diseases in liver. [Cell Mol Immunol] Full Article

    Current Status and Recent Advances of Next Generation Sequencing Techniques in Immunological Repertoire
    Recently, paired sequencing strategies have been developed, which can provide information about the identity of immune receptor pairs encoded by individual T or B lymphocytes. The authors detail some of the technologies and some of the recent achievements in this field. [Genes Immun] Abstract

    Visit our reviews page to see a complete list of reviews in the human immunology research field.

     
    SCIENCE NEWS
    MedGenome Presented OncoPept – A Point Solution in Cancer Immunotherapy to Harness the Power of the Immune System to Fight Cancer
    MedGenome presented data on its proprietary cancer immunotherapy platform, OncoPept, that predicts and prioritizes T-cell neo-epitopes in human and mouse cancers. [Press release from MedGenome (PR Newswire Association LLC) discussing research presented at the Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference 2016, San Francisco] Press Release

    Atreca Announces Presentation of Preclinical Data for Cancer Immunotherapy Program
    Atreca, Inc. announced positive preclinical findings generated using the company’s Immune Repertoire Capture™ technology. [Press release from Atreca, Inc. discussing research presented at the Keystone Symposia Conference “Antibodies as Drugs”, Whistler] Press Release

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    INDUSTRY NEWS
    Blueprint Medicines Announces Worldwide Collaboration to Accelerate and Expand Its Development of Novel Medicines in the Field of Cancer Immunotherapy
    Blueprint Medicines Corporation announced that it has entered into a worldwide collaboration and exclusive license agreement with F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd and Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. for the discovery, development and commercialization of up to five small molecule therapeutics targeting kinases believed to be important in cancer immunotherapy. [Blueprint Medicines Corporation] Press Release

    RareCyte Announces CRADA with NCI in Immunology/Oncology
    RareCyte, Inc. announced the signing of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Under the terms of the CRADA, RareCyte and the NCI will collaborate over a 3-year period to investigate the use of RareCyte’s technology to identify, characterize, capture and analyze rare immune cell populations as well as individual circulating tumor cells derived from preclinical and clinical studies conducted by the NCI. [RareCyte, Inc. (PR Newswire Association LLC)] Press Release

    SRI International Receives $19.8 Million National Cancer Institute Contract for PREVENT Cancer Program
    SRI International has been awarded a contract of up to $19.8 million from the National Cancer Institute PREVENT Cancer Preclinical Drug Development Program to support the development of potential cancer preventive agents or vaccines. [SRI International] Press Release

    FDA Grants Genentech’s Cancer Immunotherapy Atezolizumab Priority Review for Advanced Bladder Cancer
    Genentech announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the company’s Biologics License Application and granted Priority Review for atezolizumab for the treatment of people with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma who had disease progression during or following platinum-based chemotherapy in the metastatic setting, or whose disease worsened within 12 months of receiving platinum-based chemotherapy before or after surgery. [Genentech, Inc.] Press Release

    Targovax Announces Encouraging Interim Results with RAS Specific Peptide Vaccine in Resected Pancreatic Cancer
    Targovax has conducted a predetermined interim analysis of the TG01 Phase I/II trial, indicating promising 1-year overall survival data when combining TG01 with gemcitabine as supplementary treatment of patients with pancreatic cancer. [Targovax] Press Release

     
    POLICY NEWS
    National Institutes of Health (United States)

    Food and Drug Administration (United States)

    Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (United States)

    European Medicines Agency (European Union)

    Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (United Kingdom)

    Therapeutic Goods Administration (Australia)

     
    EVENTS
    NEW AACR’s Colorectal Cancer: From Initiation to Outcomes
    September 17-20, 2016
    Tampa, United States

    Visit our events page to see a complete list of events in the human immunology community.

     
    JOB OPPORTUNITIES
    NEW Postdoctoral Fellow – Immunology (Cellectis Inc.)

    Senior Scientist – Immunology and Cell Separation (STEMCELL Technologies Inc.)

    Postdoctoral Position or Research Scientist – Mucosal Immunology (Qu Biologics)

    Postdoctoral Fellow – Immunology (Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard)

    Postdoctoral Researchers – Tumor Immunology and Cancer Immunotherapy (University of California, Los Angeles)

    Tenure-Track Position – Immunology (Massachusetts General Hospital)

    Postdoctoral Fellow – Autoimmune, Inflammatory and Demyelinating Diseases (Queen’s University Belfast)

    PhD Studentship – Regulation of Diabetes-Induced Inflammation (Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen)

    Research Fellow – Systems Immunology (University of Southampton)

    Senior/Principal Scientist – Antibody and Small Molecule Entities in Cellular Systems (UCB Pharma Ltd.)

    Faculty Positions – Immunology (University of Texas Health Science Center)


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