Attend IBC's Immuno-Oncology Conference in Alexandria, VA for FREE as a Guest Blogger

Earn a complimentary all-access pass to Immuno-Oncology conference by serving as a Guest Blogger at the event. As a Guest Blogger, you’ll have access to the Immuno-Oncology event’s comprehensive agenda attracting the best insights from around the world, right in Alexandria, VA in September.

Immuno-Oncology Conference

September 30-October 1, 2015

Hilton Alexandria Mark Center, Alexandria, VA

We are looking for an industry expert to be the face of the IBC's Immuno-Oncology social media campaign. The premise is to provide immuno-oncology and cancer immunotherapies - related articles, whitepapers, and overall original content.

Some of the topics of the conference are: 

• cancer vaccines;
• T-cell therapy;
• agnostic antibodies;
• combination therapies and others.

What You get:

• FREE pass to IBC's Immuno-Oncology conference (valued up to $1,999);
• Extensive social learning activities;
• Exclusive access to a networking community in the industry of your interest!

You also have a chance to GAIN exposure through our five health related-blogs with over 2000 unique visitors monthly each and more than 20 healthcare LinkedIn groups.

Learn more about the IBC's Immuno-Oncology conference event by visiting the website:

Interested and want to learn more about this opportunity please contact Amanda Caterina at acaterina@iirusa.com or directly at 646-895-7339.

We hope to have you join us in Alexandria!

Cheers,

The IBC's Immuno-Oncology Team

@ibcusa

#Immuno15

Visit the website: http://www.ibclifesciences.com/ImmunoOncology/overview.xml

Future of Biopharma Blog http://futurebiopharma.blogspot.com/

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Stem Cells Loaded with Herpes Being Used to Kill Brain Tumors

This post was contributed by @MikeMadarasz of the Institute of International Research

In a breakthrough discovery, researchers at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute have found that stem cells loaded in the herpes virus can effectively kill cancerous cells in brain tumors.  The study showed a marked improvement in the survival rate of mice with Glioblastoma Multiforme, one of the most common forms of cancer, when treated with these virus-loaded stem cells. 

Similar approaches using cancer-killing viruses have been utilized before in phase 1 and 2 clinical trials on brain tumors, but have experienced minimal success.  The biggest hurdle?  Keeping the herpes virus at the tumor site long enough before leaving the brain through cerebrospinal fluid.  To combat this, the Harvard team looked to mesenchymal stem cells, a type of stem cell that according to Harvard, is popular in drug delivery vehicles for the minimal immune responses it triggers.  The virus was loaded into these stem cells and injected into Glioblastoma tumors developed in mice.

Using multiple imaging markers, the team was able to watch the virus make its way through first layer of brain tumor cells and ultimately into all of the cells. 

Said Khalid Shah, MS, PhD, lead author of the study, “We know that 70-75 percent of glioblastoma patients undergo surgery for tumor debulking, and we have previously shown that MSCs encapsulated in biocompatible gels can be used as therapeutic agents in a mouse model that mimics this debulking.”  He added, “So, we loaded MSCs with oncolytic herpes virus and encapsulated these cells in biocompatible gels and applied the gels directly onto the adjacent tissue after debulking. We then compared the efficacy of virus-loaded, encapsulated MSCs versus direct injection of the virus into the cavity of the debulked tumors.”

Shah’s team was able to observe that the gel kept the stem cells alive longer and allowed them kill any cells not removed during the debulking.  This ultimately resulted in a higher survival rate for the mice. 

You can find the Harvard report here.

We’ll have more on the latest in cell therapy at the Cell Therapy Bioprocessing conference, September 15-16, Arlington, VA.  Now, SAVE 20%*. Register here and use discount code XB14188BLOG.

You can download the agenda here.

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Naked Mole Rats and Fighting Degenerative Disease

This post was authored by @MikeMadarasz of the Institute for International Research

Did you know that the naked mole rat holds the record for the longest living rodent?  It’s a nice piece of trivia, yes, but the longevity of this animal may actually provide us clues about fighting degenerative diseases such as Alzheimers and Parkinsons.  Naked mole rats have been known to live for as long as 31 years—an incredible age based on their size.  In comparison, mice live four years at the most.  This is something that has piqued the interest of scientists for years.

A recent study from the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio has made connections between the extended lifespan of these rodents and the chaperone protein HSP25.  HSP25, as well as other chaperone proteins, serve as a sort of protein audit team by quickly eliminating those that are incorrectly produced or defective.  These flawed proteins are capable of aggregating and forming “clumps”, which have been associated with degenerative diseases.  

Recently, researchers have been able to definitively correlate the presence of HSP25 in tissue with longevity.  Says Karl Rodriguez, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas Health Science, "If we can understand how HSP25 levels are regulated, what it’s function is and how it contributes to cell health, we might find ways to use this protein to combat devastating age-related diseases."  Rodriguez cites animals with higher levels HSP25 as being more “primed to react” to faulty proteins and in turn, maintain cell health.  Finding ways to increase the human equivalent of the HSP25 protein (HSP27) could potentially help prevent these diseases.

Said Rochelle Buffenstein, Ph.D, the study’s senior investigator, "There's still a lot we can learn from extremely long-lived animals. Use of such models enables us to evaluate whether nature—through millions of years of evolutionary experimentation—has already evolved the best way to maintain cellular integrity and thereby delay and attenuate the aging process. HSP25 may be one such evolved protein."

Read the full press release here.

Get more on the latest in protein research at IIR’s Protein Aggregation, Stability & Solubility conference, June 4-6 in San Francisco. Learn more here.

Register now and SAVE 20%. Use code D14200BLOG

BEST VALUE. Get three conferences for the price of one. Check out our all access passes to Bioconjugates: From Targets to Therapeutics and the Next Generation Protein Summit.  

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