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Archive for the ‘Synergistic Innate and Adaptive Immunotherapy’ Category

LIVE Day One – Koch Institute 2019 Immune Engineering Symposium, January 28, 2019, Kresge Auditorium, MIT

Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

 

Real Time Press Coverage: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

#IESYMPOSIUM @pharma_BI @AVIVA1950

MISSION The mission of the Koch Institute (KI) is to apply the tools of science and technology to improve the way cancer is detected, monitored, treated and prevented.

APPROACH We bring together scientists and engineers – in collaboration with clinicians and industry partners – to solve the most intractable problems in cancer. Leveraging MIT’s strengths in technology, the life sciences and interdisciplinary research, the KI is pursuing scientific excellence while also directly promoting innovative ways to diagnose, monitor, and treat cancer through advanced technology.

HISTORY The Koch Institute facility was made possible through a $100 million gift from MIT alumnus David H. Koch. Our new building opened in March 2011, coinciding with MIT’s 150th anniversary. Our community has grown out of the MIT Center for Cancer Research (CCR), which was founded in 1974 by Nobel Laureate and MIT Professor Salvador Luria, and is one of seven National Cancer Institute-designated basic (non-clinical) research centers in the U.S.

https://ki.mit.edu/files/ki/cfile/news/presskit/KI_Fact_Sheet_-_February_2018.pdf

January 28-29, 2019
Kresge Auditorium, MIT

Biological, chemical, and materials engineers are engaged at the forefront of immunology research. At their disposal is an analytical toolkit honed to solve problems in the petrochemical and materials industries, which share the presence of complex reaction networks, and convective and diffusive molecular transport. Powerful synthetic capabilities have also been crafted: binding proteins can be engineered with effectively arbitrary specificity and affinity, and multifunctional nanoparticles and gels have been designed to interact in highly specific fashions with cells and tissues. Fearless pursuit of knowledge and solutions across disciplinary boundaries characterizes this nascent discipline of immune engineering, synergizing with immunologists and clinicians to put immunotherapy into practice.

The 2019 symposium will include two poster sessions and four abstract-selected talks. Abstracts should be uploaded on the registration page. Abstract submission deadline is November 15, 2018. Registration closes December 14.

Featuring on Day 1, 1/28, 2019:

Dane Wittrup,, Koch Institute, MIT

IMMUNE BIOLOGY,

 

7 — Stephanie Dougan (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute) HMS, Department of Virology

  • Shared antigens may be the only option for many patients
  • Pathogens, self-antigens, tumor neoantigens, shared coexpressed
  • T cell affinity low or high TCRs – Augment priming
  • Radiation plus anti-CD40 induces vigorous T cell priming
  • TNF family co-stimulatory receptor signaling can be mimicked by IAP antagonists
  • SMACK – c-IAP12 – IAPi enhances function of many immune cells: B Cells, Dendritic cells,
  • Pancreatic cancer cell immunologic memory : Primary challenge, re-challenge
  • IAPi outperforms checkpoint blockade in T cell cold tumors
  • reduction of tumor burden gencitabine cross-presenting DCs and CD8 T cells – T cell low 6694c2
  • IAPi is a T cell-dependent immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer: MHC class I and IFN gemma sensing by tumor cells are critical for endogenous anti-tumor immunity and response to checkpoint blockade
  • T cells are catalytic, they can kill some tumors not all – Genes deleted in tumor cells
  • Intratumoral phagocytes are critical for endogenous: IAP antagonism increases phagocytosis in vivo
  • Model: T cells provide antigen specificity for sustained innate immune response
  • Antigen and adjuvants

12 — Michael Dustin (University of Oxford)

Delivery of T cell Effector function through extracellular vesicles

  • Laterally mobile ligands track receptor interaction
  • ICAM-1
  • Signaling of synapse – Sustain signaling by transient in microclusters TCR related to Invadipodia
  • Synaptic ectosome biogenisis Model: T cells: DOpamine cascade in germinal cell delivered to synaptic cleft – Effector CD40 – Transfer is cooperative
  • Synaptic ectosome composition
  • ESCRT pathway associated with synaptic ectosomes
  • Locatization, Microscopy (STORM, PALM, GSD)
  • Updated Model T cells Exosome transport Cytotoxic T cell granules CTLs release extracellular vescicles similar to T Helper with perforin and granzyme – CTL vesicles kill targets

6 — Darrell Irvine (MIT, Koch Institute; HHMI)

Innate immune recognition of glycosylation in nano particle vaccines

  • HIV Vaccines: Why is it such a challenge
  • HIV vaccine – Immunogen design – CD4 binding site-targeting
  • rational for nanoparticles forms of env immunogens
  • eOD-60mer nanoparticles vs Ferritin-trimer 8-mer
  • Nanoparticle delivery increases anti-Env titers substantially
  • Nanoparticles delivery accelerate the lymphatic system drainage
  • Immunogens drives to lymph nodes: nanoparticles changes environment in the lumph nodes
  • kidney medula – lymphatic system drainage
  • Liposome conjugate allows SOSIP – the germinal center:m training ground for immune response
  • nanoparticle – mechanism of germinal center targeting
  • GC targeting is dependent on complement component CIQ – activation: Mannose-binding lectins recognize eOD-60mer but not eOD monomer or trimers
  • Engineering follicle delivery through synthetic glycans: eOD-60mer nanoparticles vs Ferritin-trimer 8-mer (density dependent)
  • SUMMARY – HIV env nanopartices activate a bridge between innate and adaptive immunity
  • Multiple formulations of nanoparticles shows rapid immune response, comparison with influenza vaccine

 

2 — Tyler Jacks (MIT, Koch Institute; HHMI) – Tumor Biology Lab

Exploring tumor-immune interactions with genetically engineered Cancer Models – A case of Lung Cancer

  • Factors controlling tumor progression – genetically-engineered model of lung adenocarcinoma, metastasis causing death
  • Infiltration of cells: SEQUENCE EXOME – NO TUMOR BURDEN,
  • Exome sequencing reveals few mutations in KP model
  • Programmed neoantogen expression in the KP model: Kras, p53 – both are well researched in Lung cancer – immune cell dependent – tumors escape immune response due to immunosuppression – regulatory T cells most important in this model system
  • tissue specific responses to antigens
  • Lung Cancer – late stage — Programmed neo-antigen expression
  • Single cell mRNA sequencing of CD* T cell over time – sort cells, 8 weeks, 12 weeks, 20 weeks – progression of single cell similarity lymph cells vs lungs cells – cell identities  – transcription activation of dysfunction in cells
  • SIIN+ CD8 T cells show markers of dysfunction over time – up regulated signs of exhaustion,
  • T cells becomes exhausted, checkpoint inhibitors beyond a certain point – has no capacity  –
  • Interrogating markers of T cell dysfunction – chance biology of cells by CRISPR Cas9 – EGR2 at 2 weeks dysfunctioning is reduced – presence of EDR2 mutant class plays a role in cell metabolism – cell becomes more functional by modification protocols
  • Effects of CRISPR-mediated vs Combinatorial effects of CRISPR-mediated mutation of inhibitory models

 

8 — Max Krummel (University of California, San Francisco)

Dynamic Emergent behavior in Immune Systems

 

  • T cells are captured on tumor margins (without desired cytotoxicity)
  • Myeloid cells Underlie Intratumoral T cell capture
  • Anti tumor (CD4 CD8) vs Pro-tumor (CD9)
  • If many cells predicting Outcome more favorable – cellular abundance
  • Alternative T Cell reactions in Tissue: T-Helper 1, T-Helper 2
  • Gene expression association between two genes:
  • NK and cDC1 numbers are tightly linked and correlated with response to checkpoint blockage
  • A CD4-Enhaced Class of Melanoma Patients Also can be Checkpoint
  • CD4 T cells in Cancer – control tumors on their on
  • If high ICOS and CD4
  • Stimulate CD4: pull out of lymph nodes cells mCD301B
  • CD4 T cell proliferation but they don’t make PD1 ICOS CD4T
  • CD4 – required: Regulatory T Cells control CS4-dependent Tumor control via Lymph Node depletion (dLN)
  • If CD4 depleted, Lymph Node (LN) connected
  • Regulatory of PD1 ICOS CD4T
  • CD8 CD4 Tumor Affinity
  • Melanoma – T-reg hi or low – Responders are T-reg hi they have CD8
  • Existing Paired presence of T-reg, together with cDC2 number classifies Pt with better CD4
  • In Head and Neck: DC needed to stimulate immune response by CD4
  • Architypes of Immune systems in Tumors – Generally
  • CLASS I, II, III, IV – phynotypic
  • IMMUNE “ACCOMODATION” ARCHYTYPES: MYELOID TUNING OF ARCHITYPES
  • Myeloid function and composition

 

11 — Mikael Pittet (Massachusetts General Hospital)

Myeloid Cells in Cancer

  • complexity of Myeloid
  • Myeloid cells for cancer therapy: Outcomes good and bad: Tumor suppressing vs Tumor Promoting
  • Myeloid and immunotherapy
  • aPD-1 mAbs do not bind IL-12+DCs (scRNAseq): DC Classical and PlasmaCytoid (Allon Klein)
  • Indirect mechanism AFTER a-PD-1 Treatment
  • IFN-gamma Sensing Fosters IL-12 & therapeutic Responses
  • a PD-1-Mediated Activation of Tumor Immunity – Direct activation and the ‘Licensing’ Model

 

1 — Bob Schreiber (Wash University of St. Louis)

Neoantigens and the molecular basis of Cancer Immnutherapy

 

NeoAntigens (NEON Therapeutics, Co-Founder

  • MHC- I, MCH-II, tumor specific vaccine, if BOTH present THEN Clinical therapeutic efficacy is enhanced
  • Cancer Immunoediting to Personalized Cancer Vaccines
  • neoedited Tumors,
  • Tumor vaccines: Tumor Associated Antigens vs Tumor Specific Neoantigens
  • MCH Class II Immune responses to Cancer
  • CD4+
  • Immune Checkpoint Blockade Therapy eliminates T3 Sarcomas via a CD4+ CD8+ T cell dependent Mechanism
  • Control mAb vs (alphaPD-1 CTLA-4) vs (alphaPD-1 CTLA-4) + alpha CD8
  • Mutant Class II Neoepitopes: mltgb1 is the best peptide found
  • Cell Response CD4+ to T3
  • T3 – Median Mutant Affinity Value vs Affinity + Abundance: Prediction N711Y Mutant
  • MHC-II
  • Oncogene-Driven (Kras – G12D-p53 -/- =KP
  • KP Sarcomas  – do not Prime for their own rejection upon re-Challenge: Average Tumor Diameter
  • KP Sarcomas lack Strong Class I Neoepitopes MCA Sarcoma vs KP Sarcomas: Mutant Affinity
  • KP Sarcomas: Kras – G12D-p53
  • MHC Class I and Class II: Promotes PRIMING of mLama4-Specific CD8+ T Cells when KP.mLama4 Tumors express the mltgb1
  • mltgb1 enhances generation of mLama4-Specific CTL
  • controls: (alpha-PD-1), (PD-1 + CD4+)
  • Vaccine protects against T3 Outgrowth
  • CONCLUSIONS: Optimal CD8+ T cells mediated immune responses to T3 sarcomas require CD4+ T cell help

 

9 — Stefani Spranger (MIT, Koch Institute)

The role of Tumor-resident Dendritic Cells for productive anti-tumor immune response

  • CD8+ T cell T cell-inflamed Tumor vs Non-T cell inflamed Tumor
  • Tumor cell intrinsic – Workflow to identify oncogenic pathways differentially activated between T cell-inflamed
  • T cell infiltration (Braf PTEN CD3 T cells/total living cells
  • Response to checkpoint blockade
  • Non-T cell-inflamed – is LACK OF T CELL INFILTRATION – do not accumulate in Tumor,
  • Tumor-intrinsic Beta-catenin signaling mediates lack of T cell infiltration
  • Adoptive transfer of effector CT cells fails to control Beta – T cells remain motile and migrate in a directional fashion after tumor eradication
  • CD103 dendritic cells – Tumor-residing Braf3-driven CD103
  • Cross-presenting cDC1 are essential for effector T cells
  • How can we raise the curve and increase the number of long-term survivors
  • Understanding the role of tumor-resident DC
  • Accumulation of CD103 DC independent of T cells
  • Regression tumor mount T cell response independent of DC1 DC
  • Induction of anti-tumor immunity is independent of the canonical
  • Single cell RNA-Seq reveal new subset to regressiong tumors and stimulate T cells via non-conventional
  • Working hypothesis: productive anti-tumor immunity depends on multiple tumor-resident DC subsets

 

 

5 — Melody Swartz (University of Chicago)

Lymphangiogenesis and immunomodulation

  • Lymphangiogenesisfor in Inflammation
  • Immunosuppression drives metastasis
  • promotion of resolution in disease progression
  • Tumors uses lymphatic system vessels
  • Tumor VEGF-C enhances immune cell interactions with lymphatic system
  • Lymphangiogenesis promore immune suppression in the tumor microenvironment
  • Recruitment of immune cells system: Dendritic Cells,
  • Lymphangiogenesis melanomas – highly responsive to immunotherapy : Vaccination
  • Lymphangiogenesis promote antigen spreading
  • Lymphangiogenesis potentiation: CCL21, CCR7
  • Lymphangiogenesis attractive to Native T cells, in VEGF-C tumors
  • T cell homing inhibitors vs block T cell egress inhibitors – Immunotherapy induces T cell killing
  • Allergic airway inflammation is driven lung and lymph node Lymphangiogenesis
  • Innate Immune cell infiltration reduced
  • Memory recall responses reflect adaptive immunity
  •  pathology exacerbated with VEGFR-3 blockade response of memory recall cell is enhanced
  • VEGFR-3 signaling shifts T call balance, and CCL@1, from Lymph nodes to Lung
  • Differential changes in T cell balance between lung vs adaptive immune response to allergic airway inflammation
  • Lymphangiogenesis in the lung, competition with adaptive immune response to allergic airway inflammation in the lung

 

4 — Cathy Wu, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, HMS – CoFounder of NEON

Building better personal cancer vaccines

  • Vaccine: up to 20 personalized neoantigens as SLPs with adjuvant (polyICLC)
  • high risk melanoma – RESULTS: new immune responses – new responses mutiple immune responses CD4 & CD8: mutated vs Wild type  differences
  • Enduring complete radiographic responses after Neovax + alpha-PD-1 treatment (anti-PD-1)
  • NeoVax vs IVAC MutaNOME
  • Ex vivo responses to assay peptide pools – immune response identified
  • NeoVax: ‘warming’ a cold tumor
  • immune cell infiltration – not studied in Glioblastoma which is a pooled tumor: TCR repertoire and MHC. Available materials: PBMC vs Fresh frozen and FFPE tumor material: Blood va FF brain tissue sequencing
  • Pt 8 neoantigen-specific clonotypesID’s – reactive T cells track to the brain after vaccination
  • Single cells from brain tissue vs single cells from neoantigen specific T cells – intratumoral neoantigen-specific T cells: mutARGAP35-specific T cell identified at site of disease – breakthrough for Brain Tumor #vaccine based neoantigen-specific T cell at intracranial site
  • VAX steering the Immune system
  • commission at Dana Farber – Prediction algorithms of denovo neoantigen targets: Newly profiled peptides to train a model vs peptide in the DB – Single vs Multi-allele HLA peptide sequencing by MassSpectroscopy
  • Mono-allelic MS data reveals novel motifs and sub-motifs
  • Endogenous signals contribution to predictive power
  • NeuroNets Algoriths : Integrative models identify tumor-presented epitopes more accurately than models without training like NeuroNets
  • 5778 class I peptides from 4 cancers class I allele
  • CONCLUSIONS: proteosomal processing endogenous signals transcriptome

 

Poster Presenters

3 — Scott Wilson,  U of Chicago

Antigen-specific Tolerance: A Cure for Autoimmunity

  • Activation of auto-reactive T cell
  • Leveraging the Liver’s Tolerogenic Environment for the Induction of Antigen-specific Tolerance
  • Design Criteria for HAPC- Targeting Platform – Target Antigens to HAPCs
  • Minimal biomaterial footprint
  • Deliver system Hepatic APC-targeting Glycosylations
  • IV INJECTION: OVAALBUMIN OVA-P(GALINAC), P(GLCNAC), SUPRESS T CELL RESPONSE
  • Glyco-conjucates Abate T cells response – Reduced cytokine production &  increased T-regs

 

1- — Noor Momin, MIT, Prof. K. Dane Wittrup Lab

The role of Collagen and Cytokines in Immunotherapy drug development

 

  • Cytokine therapies have poor therapeutic windows
  • Intratumoral Cytokine Delivery: Expectation vs Reality
  • Anchor intratumorally adm cytokines to collagen and protein
  • collagen abundent (toxicity) and long-lived (maximize efficacy)
  • Lumican – homology model – mediate collagen-anchoring? How to mediate anchoring
  • Lumican fusion to IL-2 improves treatment efficacy however toxic – Anti-TAA mAb – TA99 vs IL-2
  • Best efficacy in Lumican-MSA-IL-2 vs MSA-IL2
  • Lumican-cytokines improve control of distant lesions – Lumican-fusion potentiates systemic anti-tumor immunity
  • Lumican-cytokines efficacious in Braf/Pten GEMM
  • Lumican fusion cytokine IL-2 IL-12 Binds collagen

 

 

 

 

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2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for contributions to Cancer Immunotherapy to James P. Allison, Ph.D., of the University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas. Dr. Allison shares the prize with Tasuku Honjo, M.D., Ph.D., of Kyoto University Institute, Japan

Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

 

See

Immune System Stimulants: Articles of Note @pharmaceuticalintelligence.com

Curators: Larry H. Bernstein, MD, FCAP and Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2016/05/01/immune-system-stimulants-articles-of-note-pharmaceuticalintelligence-com/

 

Immune-Oncology Molecules In Development & Articles on Topic in @pharmaceuticalintelligence.com

Curators: Stephen J Williams, PhD and Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2016/01/11/articles-on-immune-oncology-molecules-in-development-pharmaceuticalintelligence-com/

 

 

Monday, October 1, 2018

NIH grantees win 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

The 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to National Institutes of Health grantee James P. Allison, Ph.D., of the University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas. Dr. Allison shares the prize with Tasuku Honjo, M.D., Ph.D., of Kyoto University Institute, Japan, for their discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said, “by stimulating the inherent ability of our immune system to attack tumor cells this year’s Nobel Laureates have established an entirely new principle for cancer therapy.”

Dr. Allison discovered that a particular protein (CTLA-4) acts as a braking system, preventing full activation of the immune system when a cancer is emerging. By delivering an antibody that blocks that protein, Allison showed the brakes could be released. The discovery has led to important developments in cancer drugs called checkpoint inhibitors and dramatic responses to previously untreatable cancers. Dr. Honjo discovered a protein on immune cells and revealed that it also operates as a brake, but with a different mechanism of action.

“Jim’s work was pivotal for cancer therapy by enlisting our own immune systems to launch an attack on cancer and arrest its development,” said NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. “NIH is proud to have supported this groundbreaking research.”

Dr. Allison has received continuous funding from NIH since 1979, receiving more than $13.7 million primarily from NIH’s National Cancer Institute (NCI) and National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

“This work has led to remarkably effective, sometime curative, therapy for patients with advanced cancer, who we were previously unable to help,” said NCI Director Ned Sharpless, M.D. “Their findings have ushered in the era of cancer immunotherapy, which along with surgery, radiation and cytotoxic chemotherapy, represents a ‘fourth modality’ for treating cancer. A further understanding of the biology underlying the immune system and cancer has the potential to help many more patients.”

“Dr. Allison’s elegant and groundbreaking work in basic immunology over four decades and its important applicability to cancer is a vivid demonstration of the critical nature of interdisciplinary biomedical research supported by NIH,” says NIAID Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

SOURCE

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-grantees-win-2018-nobel-prize-physiology-or-medicine

 

Dr. Lev-Ari covered in person the following curated articles about James Allison, PhD since his days at University of California, Berkeley, including the prizes awarded prior to the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology.

 

2018 Albany Medical Center Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research goes to NIH’s Dr. Rosenberg and fellow immunotherapy researchers James P. Allison, Ph.D., and Carl H. June, M.D.

Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2018/08/15/2018-albany-medical-center-prize-in-medicine-and-biomedical-research-goes-to-nihs-dr-rosenberg-and-fellow-immunotherapy-researchers-james-p-allison-ph-d-and-carl-h-june-m-d/

 

Lectures by The 2017 Award Recipients of Warren Alpert Foundation Prize in Cancer Immunology, October 5, 2017, HMS, 77 Louis Paster, Boston

REAL TIME Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2017/09/08/lectures-by-the-2017-award-recipients-of-warren-alpert-foundation-prize-in-cancer-immunology-october-5-2017-hms-77-louis-paster-boston/

 

Cancer-free after immunotherapy treatment: Treating advanced colon cancer – targeting KRAS gene mutation by tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and Killer T-cells (NK)

Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2016/12/08/cancer-free-after-immunotherapy-treatment-treating-advanced-colon-cancer-targeting-kras-gene-mutation-by-tumor-infiltrating-lymphocytes-tils-and-killer-t-cells-nk/

 

New Class of Immune System Stimulants: Cyclic Di-Nucleotides (CDN): Shrink Tumors and bolster Vaccines, re-arm the Immune System’s Natural Killer Cells, which attack Cancer Cells and Virus-infected Cells

Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

https://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2016/04/24/new-class-of-immune-system-stimulants-cyclic-di-nucleotides-cdn-shrink-tumors-and-bolster-vaccines-re-arm-the-immune-systems-natural-killer-cells-which-attack-cancer-cells-and-virus-inf/

 

UC Berkeley research led to Nobel Prize-winning immunotherapy

Immunologist James P. Allison today shared the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for groundbreaking work he conducted on cancer immunotherapy at UC Berkeley during his 20 years as director of the campus’s Cancer Research Laboratory.

James Allison

James Allison, who for 20 years was a UC Berkeley immunologist conducting fundamental research on cancer, is now at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas.

Now at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Allison shared the award with Tasuku Honjo of Kyoto University in Japan “for their discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation.”

Allison, 70, conducted basic research on how the immune system – in particular, a cell called a T cell – fights infection. His discoveries led to a fundamentally new strategy for treating malignancies that unleashes the immune system to kill cancer cells. A monoclonal antibody therapy he pioneered was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2011 to treat malignant melanoma, and spawned several related therapies now being used against lung, prostate and other cancers.

“Because this approach targets immune cells rather than specific tumors, it holds great promise to thwart diverse cancers,” the Lasker Foundation wrote when it awarded Allison its 2015 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award.

Allison’s work has already benefited thousands of people with advanced melanoma, a disease that used to be invariably fatal within a year or so of diagnosis. The therapy he conceived has resulted in elimination of cancer in a significant fraction of patients for a decade and counting, and it appears likely that many of these people are cured.

“Targeted therapies don’t cure cancer, but immunotherapy is curative, which is why many consider it the biggest advance in a generation,” Allison said in a 2015 interview. “Clearly, immunotherapy now has taken its place along with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation as a reliable and objective way to treat cancer.”

“We are thrilled to see Jim’s work recognized by the Nobel Committee,” said Russell Vance, the current director of the Cancer Research Laboratory and a UC Berkeley professor of molecular and cell biology. “We congratulate him on this highly deserved honor. This award is a testament to the incredible impact that the fundamental research Jim conducted at Berkeley has had on the lives of cancer patients”

“I don’t know if I could have accomplished this work anywhere else than Berkeley,” Allison said. “There were a lot of smart people to work with, and it felt like we could do almost anything. I always tell people that it was one of the happiest times of my life, with the academic environment, the enthusiasm, the students, the faculty.”

In this video about UC Berkeley’s new Immunotherapeutics and Vaccine Research Initiative (IVRI), Allison discusses his groundbreaking work on cancer immunotherapy.

In fact, Allison was instrumental in creating the research environment of the current Department of Molecular and Cell Biology at UC Berkeley as well as the department’s division of immunology, in which he served stints as chair and division head during his time at Berkeley, said David Raulet, director of Berkeley’s Immunotherapeutics and Vaccine Research Initiative (IVRI).

“His actions helped create the superb research environment here, which is so conducive to making the fundamental discoveries that will be the basis of the next generation of medical breakthroughs,” Raulet said.

Self vs. non-self

Allison joined the UC Berkeley faculty as a professor of molecular and cell biology and director of the Cancer Research Laboratory in 1985. An immunologist with a Ph.D. from the University of Texas, Austin, he focused on a type of immune system cell called the T cell or T lymphocyte, which plays a key role in fighting off bacterial and viral infections as well as cancer.

Supercharging the immune system to cure disease: immunotherapy research at UC Berkeley. (UC Berkeley video by Roxanne Makasdjian and Stephen McNally)

At the time, most doctors and scientists believed that the immune system could not be exploited to fight cancer, because cancer cells look too much like the body’s own cells, and any attack against cancer cells would risk killing normal cells and creating serious side effects.

“The community of cancer biologists was not convinced that you could even use the immune system to alter cancer’s outcome, because cancer was too much like self,” said Matthew “Max” Krummel, who was a graduate student and postdoctoral fellow with Allison in the 1990s and is now a professor of pathology and a member of the joint immunology group at UCSF. “The dogma at the time was, ‘Don’t even bother.’ ”

“What was heady about the moment was that we didn’t really listen to the dogma, we just did it,” Krummel added. Allison, in particular, was a bit “irreverent, but in a productive way. He didn’t suffer fools easily.” This attitude rubbed off on the team.

Trying everything they could in mice to tweak the immune system, Krummel and Allison soon found that a protein receptor called CTLA-4 seemed to be holding T cells back, like a brake in a car.

Postdoctoral fellow Dana Leach then stepped in to see if blocking the receptor would unleash the immune system to actually attack a cancerous tumor. In a landmark paper published in Science in 1996, Allison, Leach and Krummel showed not only that antibodies against CTLA-4 released the brake and allowed the immune system to attack the tumors, but that the technique was effective enough to result in long-term disappearance of the tumors.

“When Dana showed me the results, I was really surprised,” Allison said. “It wasn’t that the anti-CTLA-4 antibodies slowed the tumors down. The tumors went away.”

After Allison himself replicated the experiment, “that’s when I said, OK, we’ve got something here.”

Checkpoint blockade

The discovery led to a concept called “checkpoint blockade.” This holds that the immune system has many checkpoints designed to prevent it from attacking the body’s own cells, which can lead to autoimmune disease. As a result, while attempts to rev up the immune system are like stepping on the gas, they won’t be effective unless you also release the brakes.

Allison in 1993

James Allison in 1993, when he was conducting research at UC Berkeley on a promising immunotherapy now reaching fruition. (Jane Scherr photo)

“The temporary activation of the immune system though ‘checkpoint blockade’ provides a window of opportunity during which the immune system is mobilized to attack and eliminate tumors,” Vance said.

Allison spent the next few years amassing data in mice to show that anti-CTLA-4 antibodies work, and then, in collaboration with a biotech firm called Medarex, developed human antibodies that showed promise in early clinical trials against melanoma and other cancers. The therapy was acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2011 and approved by the FDA as ipilimumab (trade name Yervoy), which is now used to treat skin cancers that have metastasized or that cannot be removed surgically.

Meanwhile, Allison left UC Berkeley in 2004 for Memorial Sloan Kettering research center in New York to be closer to the drug companies shepherding his therapy through clinical trials, and to explore in more detail how checkpoint blockade works.

“Berkeley was my favorite place, and if I could have stayed there, I would have,” he said. “But my research got to the point where all the animal work showed that checkpoint blockade had a lot of potential in people, and working with patients at Berkeley wasn’t possible. There’s no hospital, no patients.”

Thanks to Allison’s doggedness, anti-CTLA-4 therapy is now an accepted therapy for cancer and it opened the floodgates for a slew of new immunotherapies, Krummel said. There now are several hundred ongoing clinical trials involving monoclonal antibodies to one or more receptors that inhibit T cell activity, sometimes combined with lower doses of standard chemotherapy.

Antibodies against one such receptor, PD-1, which Honjo discovered in 1992, have given especially impressive results. Allison’s initial findings can be credited for prompting researchers, including Allison himself, to carry out the studies that have demonstrated the potent anti-cancer effects of PD-1 antibodies. In 2015, the FDA approved anti-PD-1 therapy for malignant melanoma, and has since approved it for non-small-cell lung, gastric and several other cancers.

Science magazine named cancer immunotherapy its breakthrough of 2013 because that year, “clinical trials … cemented its potential in patients and swayed even the skeptics. The field hums with stories of lives extended: the woman with a grapefruit-size tumor in her lung from melanoma, alive and healthy 13 years later; the 6-year-old near death from leukemia, now in third grade and in remission; the man with metastatic kidney cancer whose disease continued fading away even after treatment stopped.”

Allison pursued more clinical trials for immunotherapy at Sloan-Kettering and then in 2012 returned to his native Texas.

Born in Alice, Texas, on Aug. 7, 1948, Allison earned a B.S. in microbiology in 1969 and a Ph.D. in biological science in 1973 from the University of Texas, Austin.

RELATED INFORMATION

SOURCE

http://news.berkeley.edu/2018/10/01/uc-berkeley-research-led-to-nobel-prize-winning-immunotherapy/

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LIVE – OCTOBER 17 – DAY 2- Koch Institute Immune Engineering Symposium 2017, MIT, Kresge Auditorium

Reporter: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

 

 

Image Source:Koch Institute

Koch Institute

Immune Engineering Symposium 2017

http://kochinstituteevents.cvent.com/events/koch-institute-immune-engineering-symposium-2017/agenda-64e5d3f55b964ff2a0643bd320b8e60d.aspx

Image Source: Leaders in Pharmaceutical Business Intelligence (LPBI) Group

Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN will be in attendance covering the event in REAL TIME

@pharma_BI

@AVIVA1950

#IESYMPOSIUM

@KOCHINSTITUTE

  • The Immune System, Stress Signaling, Infectious Diseases and Therapeutic Implications: VOLUME 2: Infectious Diseases and Therapeutics and VOLUME 3: The Immune System and Therapeutics (Series D: BioMedicine & Immunology) Kindle Edition – on Amazon.com since September 4, 2017

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075CXHY1B

SYMPOSIUM SCHEDULE

OCTOBER 17 – DAY 2

8:30 – 9:45 Session V
Moderator: Stefani Spranger | MIT, Koch Institute

K. Christopher Garcia – Stanford University
Exploiting T Cell and Cytokine Receptor Structure and Mechanism to Develop New Immunotherapeutic Strategies

  • T Cell Receptor, peptide-MHC, 10 to the power of 10 is combinatorics – Library for selection to determine enrichment possibilities
  • Ligand identification for orphan TCRs
  1. Industrializing process
  2. use pMHC
  • IL-2 – Receptor Signaling Complex
  • Effector cells (NK, T)
  • Engineered  T Cell – Tunable expansion, ligand-Receptor interface
  • Randomize IL-2RBeta interface: Orthogonal receptor vs wild type
  • In Vivo adoptive transfer model: to quantify orthogonality ratio
  • CD4, CD8, Treg,C57BL/6J
  • Ligand discovery
  • Orthogonal IL-2

Stefani Spranger – MIT, Koch Institute
Batf3-DC as Mediators of the T Cell-Inflamed Tumor Microenvironment

  • Melanoma – solid cancer and other types, Immune inhibitory regulatory pathway patient with Immune response present
  • T cell-inflamed Tumor vs Non-T cell-inflamed Tumor
  • identify oncogenic pathways differentially activated between T cell-inflamed and non-Tcell-inflamed infiltration
  • If on Tumor:
  1. Braf/PTEN
  2. Braf/CAT
  3. Braf/PTEN/CAT
  • The role of T cell priming – lack of initial
  • Beta-catenin-expressing tumors fail to prime 2C TCR-transgenic T cells
  • Deficiency in number of CD8+ and CD103+ dendritic cells
  • CD103+ DC are essential for T cell Priming and T cell-inflammation #StefaniSpranger
  • Adoptive transfer of effector 2C T cells fails to control Beta-catenin+ tumors
  • Vaccination induced anti-gen specific T cell memory fails to control Beta-catenin+ tumors
  • What cell type in tumor microenvironment effect monilization of T cell
  • CD103+ Dendritic cellsare source chymokine
  • Recruitment of effector T cells: Reconstitution od Beta-catenin-expressing SIY+
  • Are Batf3-DC within the tumor required for the recruitment of effector T cells?
  • Tumor-residing Batf3-drive CD103+ DC are required for the recruitment of effector T cells
  • Gene spore for correlation with recturment of effector cells
  • T cell Priming – CD103+ DC are essential for effector T cells

George Georgiou – University of Texas at Austin
The Human Circulating Antibody Repertoire in Infection, Vaccination or Cancer

  • Serological Antibody Repertoire: in blood or in secretions
  • Antibody in serum – is difficult sequence identity
  • Serum IgG – 7-17 mg/ml if less immune deficient if more hyper globular
  • antibodies produced in long lived plasma cells in the bone marrow — experimentally inaccessible
  • Discovery of antibodies from the serological repertoire – not B cells
  • BM-PCs
  • Serum antibodies function via Fc effector mechanism – complement activation
  • Ig-SEQ – BCR-SEQ
  • Repertoire-wide computational modelling of antibody structures
  • En masse analysis & Mining of the Human Native Antibody Repertoire
  • hypervariable – High-Throughput Single B Cell VH:VL (or TCRalpha, beta) sequencing
  • EBOV Vaccinee Peak ASCs (day 8) mining: Neutralization
  • Features of the Serum Antibody Repertoire to Vaccine ANtigens:The Serum IgG Repertoire is Highly Polarized
  • Each bar represents a distinct antibody lineage
  • Serum IgG Repertoire becomes increasingly polarized with AGE >50 – may be predictive of tumor development process
  • Human Norovirus – explosive Diarreha, chromically infected – HuNoV BNAb Discovery – Takeda 214 bivalent Vaccine – Binding antibodies binding to avccine antigen VLP
  • HuNoV causes 800 death in the US per year of immune deficient
  • Influenza Trivalent Vaccine: Antibodies to hemaggiutinin: H1, H3, and B COmponenet
  • Abundant H1 +H3 Serum IgGs do not neutralize but confer Protection toInfluenza challenge with Live Virus #GeorgeGeorgiou
  • Non-Neutralizing Antibodies: The role of Complement in Protection

9:45 – 10:15 Break

10:15 – 11:30 Session VI
Moderator: K. Dane Wittrup | MIT, Koch Institute

Harvey Lodish – Whitehead Institute and Koch Institute
Engineered Erythrocytes Covalently Linked to Antigenic Peptides Can Protect Against Autoimmune Disease

  • Modified Red blood cells are microparticles for introducing therapeutics & diagnostics into the human body
  • Bool transfusion is widely used therapeutics
  • Covalently linking unique functional modalities to mouse or human red cells produced in cell culture:
  • PRODUCTION OF HUMAN RED BLOD CELLS EXPRESSING A FOREIN PROTEIN: CD34+ stem/progenitor cells that generates normal enucleated RBC.
  • PPAR-alpha and glucocorticoticoid receptor
  • Norman morphology: Sortase A is a bactrial transpeptidase that covalently links a “donor”
  • Engineering Normal Human RBC biotin-LPETG
  • Covelantely – Glycophorin A with camelid VHHs specific for Botulinum toxin A or B
  • Generation of immuno tolerance: SOruggable Mature RBCs: CRISPR mice expressing Kell-LPETG
  • Ovalbumin as Model Antigens:
  1. OBI B,
  2. OTI CD8 T cells
  3. OTII CD4 T cells
  4. OT-1
  5. OT-2
  • RBC induced peptides challenged and experiences apoptosis
  • Type I Diabetes in NOD mice
  • RBCs bearing InsB9-23 – prevented development of diabetes

Multiple sclerosis

  • MOG – Myelin Oligodend

Sai Reddy – ETH Zurich
Molecular Convergence Patterns in Antibody Responses Predict Antigen Exposure

  • Clonal diversity – estimating the size of antibody repertoire: 10 to power of 18 or 10 to 13
  • Clonal selection in antibody repertoire
  • Convergent selection in antibody repertoire
  • Convergent selection in TCR repertoire complex have restriction with MCH interactions
  • How molecular abundance of convergence predicts antigen exposure identify antigen-associated clusters #SaiReddy
  • molecular convergence 0 gene expression analysis, immunization scheme molecular bar coding to correct errors
  • Recoding antibody repertoire sequence space: Cross correlation reveals different clusters
  • Building a classifier model based on cluster frequency: Clones from immunized mice
  • epitope specificity is driving antibody repertoire response
  • deep learning,

K. Dane Wittrup – MIT, Koch Institute
Temporal Programming of Synergistic Innate and Adaptive Immunotherapy

  • Innate effector functions of anti-tumor antibodies
  • Innate & adaptive Immunotherapy
  • Innate mAb –>> tumor cell; adaptive CD8+ T cells
  • Chemokines Antigens
  • Cytokines Chemokines – back and forth innate Adaptive –> <— neutrophils impact
  • AIPV vaccine:
  • How anti-TAA mAbs helping T cell Immune response
  • Anti-TAA mAbs drive vaccinal T cell responses: NK cells
  • antibody drives T cells responses: alpha-TAA mAbs potentiate T cell therapies: ACT +MSA-IL-2 vs alphaPD-1 + vaccine
  • CD8+ T cells required for alpha TAA mAb efficacy- In absence of T cells Treatment does not work
  • Anti-TAA mAb +Fc/IL-2 induces intramural cytokine storm #KDaneWittrup
  • How to simplify and improve AIPV? Hypothesis: ALign dose schedule
  • Immune response to infection follwos a temporal progression: Innate … Adaptive
  • Antigenic material kill cells: Chemo, cell death Antigen presentation, T cell priming, T cell recirculation, Lymphocyte tumor infiltrate, TCR
  • IFN alpha 2 dys after mAb +Il-2: Curative: days post tumor injection
  • Necessary components: CD8+ T cells & DC, Macrophages,
  • Optimal IFNalpha coincides with max innate response vs Mature DCs after antigen loading #KDaneWittrup
  • Optimal timing od agent administration effect on Therapy Outcome: IL-2, IFNalpha, TAAmAb
  • Cytkine timing can be better than protein engineering #KDaneWittrup

11:30 – 1:00 Lunch Break

1:00 – 2:15 Session VII
Moderator: Michael Birnbaum | MIT, Koch Institute

Kai Wucherpfennig – Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Discovery of Novel Targets for Cancer Immunotherapy

  • POSITIVE STRESS SIGNAL during malignant Transformation
  • NKG2G=D Receptor: MICA/B Results in Immune escape – Proteolytic cleavage  shedding of MICA/B present in serum, indication of tumor progression
  • Shed MICA vs Surface MICA/B – restore NK cell cytotoxicity and IFNgamma Production
  • Human NK cells express NKG2D and Fc Receptors
  • Synergistic NKG2D and CD16 signaling enhances NK cell cytootxicity: Control IgG vs Anti NKG2D
  • MICA Antibody induces Immunity Against Lung Metastases
  • NK cells are required to inhibit Growth of metastases: Anti-CD8beta,
  • Contribution to Therapeutic Efficacy: NKG2D and CD16 Receptors #KaiWucherpfennig
  • Strategy to analyze Pulmonary NK cells: Activation and expression
  • Single cell RNA-seq of lung NK cells Revealed higher infiltration of activated NK cells: Isotype vs 7C6-migG2a
  • Cytokines and Chemokines produce NK cells
  • MICA/B increaces NK
  •  Induction of Tumor cell Apoptosis
  • Xenotransplant Model with Human Melanoma Cel Line A2058
  • Lung metastasis, liver metastasis
  • Inhibition of human melanoma Metastases in NSG Mice Reconstitute with Human NK
  • Liver metastases are controlled by Myeloid Cells that include Kupffer cells

Michael Birnbaum – MIT, Koch Institute
An Unbiased Determination of pMHC Repertoires for Better Antigen Prediction

  • Vaccines TCR gene therapy adoptive T cel therapy
  • Tumor genone – Tumor pMHC repertoire = Tumor TCR repertoire T cell repertoire
  • Neoantigen vaccines as a personalized anti-cancer therapy
  • Tumor procurement – Target selection – personal vaccine production – vaccine administration
  • Prediction of neoantigen-MHC Binding due to polimorphism affecting recognition, rare in MHC Allells #Michael Birnbaum
  • Antigenicity – Chaperones HLA-DM sculp the peptide binding repertoire of MHC
  • Identification of loaded peptide ligands: pMHC mass spectroscopy of tissue
  • TCR recognition, pMHC yeast display: Cleave peptide-MHC linker, catalyze peptide exchange
  • HLA-DR4 library design and selection to enrich HLA-DM: Amino Acid vs Peptide position: Depleted vs Enriched – relative to expected for NNK codon
  •  6852 _ predicted to bind vs 220 Non-binding peptides
  • HLA polymorphism: repertoire differences caused by
  • Antigen – T cell-driven antigen discovery: engaging Innate and Adaptive Immune response
  • Sorting TIL and select: FOcus of T cell-driven antigen discovery
  • T cell-driven antigen discovery: TCR

Jennifer R. Cochran – Stanford University
Innate and Adaptive Integrin-targeted Combination Immunotherapy

  • alpa-TAA
  • Targeting Integrin = universal target involved in binding to several receptors: brest, lung, pancreatic, brain tumors arising by mutations – used as a handle for binding to agents
  • NOD201 Peptide-Fc Fusion: A Psudo Ab
  • Handle the therapeutics: NOD201 + alphaPD1
  • NOD201 effectively combines with alphaPD-L1, alphaCTLA-4, and alpha4-1BB/CD137
  • Corresponding monotherapies vs ComboTherapy invoking Innate and Adaptive Immune System
  • Microphages, CD8+ are critical vs CD4+ Neutrophils, NK cells, B cells #JenniferR. Cochran
  • Macrophages activation is critical – Day 4, 4 and 5
  • NOD201 + alphaPD1 combo increases M1 macrophages
  • Who are the best responders to PD1 – genes that are differentially expressed
  • NOD201 deives T cells reaponses through a “vaccinal” effect
  • CAncer Immune CYcle
  • Integrin – localization
  • Prelim NOD201 toxicity studies: no significant effects
  • Targeting multiple integrins vs antibodies RJ9 – minimal effect
  • NOD201 – manufacturability – NEW AGENT in Preclinical stage

2:15 – 2:45 Break

2:45 – 3:35 Session VIII
Moderator: Jianzhu Chen | MIT, Koch Institute

Jennifer Wargo – MD Anderson Cancer Center
Understanding Responses to Cancer Therapy: The Tissue is the Issue, but the Scoop is in the Poop

  • Optimize Targeted Treatment response
  • Translational research in patients on targeted therapy revealed molecular and immune mechanisms of response and resistance
  • Molecular mechanisms – T cell infiltrate after one week of therapy
  • Role of tumor stroma in mediating resistance to targeted therapy
  • Tumor microenvironment
  • Intra-tumoral bacteria identified in patients with Pancreatic Cancer
  • Translational research in patients on immune checkpoint blockade revealed molecualr and immune mechanism of response and resistance
  • Biomarkers not found
  • SYstemic Immunity and environment (temperature) on response to checkpoint blockade – what is the role?
  • Role of mIcrobiome in shaping response to checkpoint blockade in Melanoma
  • Microbime and GI Cancer
  • Diversity of the gut microbiome is associated with differential outcomes in the setting of stem cell transplant in AML
  • Oral and gut fecal microbiome in large cohort patient with metastatic melanoma undergoing systemic therapy
  • Repeat oral & gut AFTER chemo
  • WGSeq – Diversity of microbiome and response (responders vs non-responders to anti PD-1 – High diversity of microbiome have prolonged survival to PD-1 blockade
  • Anti tumor Immunity and composition of gut microbiome in patient on anti-PD-1 favorable AND higher survival #JenniferWargo
  • Enhance therapeutic responses in lang and renal carcinoma: If on antibiotic – poorer survival
  • sharing data important across institutions

Jianzhu Chen – MIT, Koch Institute
Modulating Macrophages in Cancer Immunotherapy

  • Humanized mouth vs de novo human cancer
  • B cell hyperplasia
  • double hit lymphoma
  • AML
  • Overexpression of Bcl-2 & Myc in B cells leads to double-hit lymphoma
  • antiCD52 – CLL
  • Spleen, Bone marrow, Brain
  • Microphages are required to kill Ab-bound lymphoma cells in vivo #JianzhuChen
  • COmbinatorial chemo-Immunotherapy works for solid tumors: treating breast cancer in humanized mice
  • Infiltration of monocytic cells in the bone marrow
  • Cyclophosphophamide-antibody synergy extending to solid tumor and different antibodies #JianzhuChen
  • Polarization of macrophages it is dosage-dependent M1 and M2
  • Antibiotic induces expression of M1 polarizing supresses development and function of tumor-associated macrophages (TAM)
  • Antibiotic inhibits melanoma growth by activating macrophages in vivo #JianzhuChen

 

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Higher-Order Structure Comparability: Case Studies of BioSimilar Monoclonal Antibodies

Reporter: Larry H. Bernstein, MD, FCAP

 

DR ANTHONY MELVIN CRASTO, Worlddrugtracker

MAbs and antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) are among the fastest growing biologic segments in development, with hundreds of candidates currently under clinical study.

read at

http://www.bioprocessintl.com/manufacturing/biosimilars/higher-order-structure-comparability/

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