Protein

AbCellera Presents Data on T-Cell Engagers Against Four Tumor Targets at AACR 2024

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Monday, April 8, 2024
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Together, AbCellera’s data demonstrate that it is well-positioned to advance TCEs as a drug class by widening the therapeutic window, enhancing potency, and broadening the accessible target space.

Key Points: 
  • Together, AbCellera’s data demonstrate that it is well-positioned to advance TCEs as a drug class by widening the therapeutic window, enhancing potency, and broadening the accessible target space.
  • “Our data illustrate that we can repeatedly generate TCEs that maximize tumor-cell killing without inducing excessive cytokine release.
  • The data show that AbCellera’s IgG and heavy chain-only CD28-binding antibodies do not display superagonist activity — a property associated with toxicity.
  • “We look forward to advancing these programs with the aim of delivering powerful new medicines for patients.”

American Lung Association and LUNGevity Foundation Announce $3 Million Research Partnership to Intercept Lung Cancer

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Tuesday, April 9, 2024
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In a collaborative effort to end this devastating disease, the American Lung Association and LUNGevity Foundation have joined forces to invest $3 million over the next three years in research aimed at intercepting lung cancer – catching precancerous cells and blocking them from turning into cancer cells.

Key Points: 
  • In a collaborative effort to end this devastating disease, the American Lung Association and LUNGevity Foundation have joined forces to invest $3 million over the next three years in research aimed at intercepting lung cancer – catching precancerous cells and blocking them from turning into cancer cells.
  • The partnership builds upon previous collaborations, including research funded by American Lung Association, LUNGevity Foundation and Stand Up To Cancer, which has yielded significant findings in lung cancer interception.
  • Through initiatives like the American Lung Association Research Institute Accelerator Program and the LUNGevity Early Lung Cancer Center , this partnership aims to accelerate progress in lung cancer interception research and pave the way for personalized treatments for patients.
  • LUNGevity, the nation's leading lung cancer organization, is transforming what it means to be diagnosed and live with lung cancer.

COVID-19 Virus Can Persist in the Body More Than a Year after Infection

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Tuesday, April 9, 2024
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MEDFORD, Mass., April 8, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Research published today in Lancet Infectious Diseases and supported by PolyBio Research Foundation provides the strongest evidence yet that the COVID virus can persist for months or years after infection. The findings, published by a UC San Francisco/Harvard Medical School team, found that proteins created by the virus were still present for up to 14 months in a quarter of people tested. This demonstrates SARS-CoV-2 viral persistence as an urgent area of research underlying a breadth of chronic disease after COVID. 

Key Points: 
  • "The fact that every new SARS-CoV-2 infection has the potential to become chronic is perhaps the single most concerning aspect of this virus," says Dr. Amy Proal, President of PolyBio.
  • "We have compelling data that viral persistence is much more common than recognized which could have major health implications."
  • The researchers analyzed blood samples from 171 people who had been infected with the virus.
  • These findings greatly bolster evidence that the coronavirus can linger in tissue and organs, even after recovery from acute infection.

IdeeLab Joins the Ginkgo Technology Network to Provide Agriculture Companies in Brazil with End-to-End Product Development & Manufacturing Service

Retrieved on: 
Monday, April 8, 2024
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PIRACICABA, Brazil, April 8, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- IdeeLab Biotechnology, a Brazilian company aiming to develop innovations and biological solutions for agriculture, today announced that is has entered into an agreement with Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA), which is building the leading platform for cell programming and biosecurity, to join the Ginkgo Technology Network.

Key Points: 
  • The Ginkgo Technology Network is a groundbreaking global ecosystem of cutting-edge technology partners dedicated to driving innovation in customer R&D programs.
  • Ginkgo plans to integrate the technological capabilities of its network partners to provide customers with more robust end-to-end solutions to drive successful R&D outcomes across biological end markets.
  • IdeeLab is leading sustainable agriculture biological products development in Brazil by developing new technologies on behalf of customers for the crop input market.
  • Anna Marie Wagner, Ginkgo's SVP, Head of AI and Corporate Development: "IdeeLab has been inspiring a new era in Brazilian agriculture and we're thrilled to welcome them to the Ginkgo Technology Network!

Element Biosciences Announces Availability of AVITI24, the First Benchtop Sequencer Capable of Direct Cell Profiling

Retrieved on: 
Friday, April 5, 2024
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SAN DIEGO, April 5, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Element Biosciences, Inc., developer of pioneering technologies to empower science, has begun taking orders for AVITI24™ the first instrument to combine state-of-the-art sequencing and cyto-profiling (mapping cell characteristics) into a single integrated biology platform, the company announced at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Key Points: 
  • AVITI24 revolutionizes research by enabling simultaneous examination of DNA, RNA, proteins, phosphoproteins, and cell structure within single cells.
  • Powered by Element's new Teton™ chemistry, AVITI24 expands on AVITI's best-in-class sequencing capabilities to offer new multi-omics functionality, simplifying results in one multi-omic read-out in less than 24 hours.
  • This technology is particularly relevant for cancer researchers, facilitating in-depth exploration of the links between the molecular makeup of cancer cells and how they function within complex tumors.
  • "Today, we are redefining what a sequencer can do by streamlining multiple conventional stages of discovery into a single powerful platform," said Molly He, PhD, CEO and co-founder of Element Biosciences.

Diet and nutrition: how well Tanzanians eat depends largely on where they live

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Tuesday, April 9, 2024
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Across the continent the urban share of the total population is projected to increase to 50% by 2030 and 60% by 2050.

Key Points: 
  • Across the continent the urban share of the total population is projected to increase to 50% by 2030 and 60% by 2050.
  • Urbanisation is associated with lifestyle changes such as less physical activity and less labour-intensive work.
  • This is often accompanied by an increased intake of high-calorie fast foods, snacks, and sugar-sweetened beverages.

Food diaries

  • Using data from food diaries recorded by 1,506 households over a two-week period, I calculated how many calories, macronutrients and micronutrients were consumed and compared them to the recommended requirements for a healthy life.
  • Besides food diaries, our data also included information on household characteristics and their socioeconomic status.

Homegrown or highly processed?

  • This was because they were not eating sufficient quantities of food.
  • Most food was home-grown, which provided beneficial nutrients, but diets were not diverse enough to provide all the nutrients needed for healthy living.
  • At the opposite end of the scale, residents of Dar es Salaam also ate unhealthy diets, but for very different reasons.

Calories, nutrients or a lack thereof

  • Rural households primarily consumed starches, cereals, vegetables and fruit, making up 29%, 21%, 12% and 7% of their diet respectively.
  • Plantains, maize, cassava, sweet potatoes and spinach were the most consumed food items in rural areas.
  • Many of these nutrients are found in animal foods, which made up a small share of rural diets.
  • In terms of quantity, these households tended to consume more, leading to lower levels of nutritional deficiencies than in rural areas.
  • About 26% of households did not meet the recommended calorie intake, but this was significantly better than in rural areas.

Next steps

  • At the same time, overconsumption of potentially harmful food substances such as fats and sugars can lead to health risks such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
  • The findings highlight the need for a varied approach to dealing with nutrient intake and tackling problems such as rising obesity rates.


Hannah Ameye does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Fossilized dinosaur eggshells can preserve amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, over millions of years

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
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But in 2017, while a Ph.D. student of paleobiology at the University of Bristol in the U.K., I heard a gleeful exclamation from across the room.

Key Points: 
  • But in 2017, while a Ph.D. student of paleobiology at the University of Bristol in the U.K., I heard a gleeful exclamation from across the room.
  • The instrument had detected telltale signatures of ancient amino acids in eggshell.
  • Amino acids are the building blocks that make up protein sequences in living organisms.
  • As Penkman’s enthusiasm suggested, these amino acids were extraordinary.
  • In fact, this result came unexpectedly amid our team’s efforts to test claims of near-pristine protein preservation in dinosaur bone.

Orphan fossil fragments

  • I predicted that if dinosaur eggshells didn’t preserve any original proteins, then their bones likely wouldn’t preserve any either, and wanted to see whether that was the case.
  • Around 2000, many eggshell fragments were illegally exported from Argentina into the commercial market.
  • These fossil fragments in some ways gained scientific value because they didn’t belong to any museum collections.

Amino acids in eggshell

  • Although some eggshells preserved amino acids far better than others, the evidence overall suggested that these molecules were ancient and original, possibly ranging from 66 million to 86 million years old.
  • The remaining amino acids we detected, however, consisted of free molecules that had broken off from their protein chains by reactions with water.
  • Amino acids can occur in left- or right-handed configurations.
  • After the organism dies, amino acids can convert between handedness until they reach 50-50 mixtures of both configurations.

Calcite, an amino acid archive

  • Bird eggshell is even among the best materials to find preserved protein sequences in fossils, let alone free amino acids.
  • Demarchi’s team has detected short, intact sequences of amino acids still bound in a chain from bird eggshell at least 6.5 million years old.
  • Other researchers have claimed to have found more ancient amino acids, as well as more extreme and less likely claims of preserved protein sequences.

Using calcite to look back in time

  • So, what messages from ancient life might persist in these calcite time capsules?
  • For example, marine arthropods called trilobites that lived more than half a billion years ago had calcite in their eyes.
  • Fossil calcite, Earth’s molecular time capsule, may send faint tales from long-gone life for researchers to better understand their biology.


This research was supported by the University of Bristol Bob Savage Memorial Fund and the Leverhulme Trust (PLP-2012-116).

Orphan designation: (S)-2-isobutyrylamino-pentanedioic acid 5-amide 1-{[(2S,5S,8S,11R,12S,15S,18S,21R)-2,8-bis-((S)-sec-butyl)-21-hydroxy-5-(4-hydroxy-benzyl)-15-isobutyl-4,11-dimethyl-3,6,9,13,16,22-hexaoxo-10-oxa-1,4,7,14,17-pentaaza-bicyclo[16.3.1[...]

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
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Orphan designation: (S)-2-isobutyrylamino-pentanedioic acid 5-amide 1-{[(2S,5S,8S,11R,12S,15S,18S,21R)-2,8-bis-((S)-sec-butyl)-21-hydroxy-5-(4-hydroxy-benzyl)-15-isobutyl-4,11-dimethyl-3,6,9,13,16,22-hexaoxo-10-oxa-1,4,7,14,17-pentaaza-bicyclo[16.3.1]docos-12-yl]-amide} Treatment of Netherton syndrome, 17/10/2019 Positive

Key Points: 


Orphan designation: (S)-2-isobutyrylamino-pentanedioic acid 5-amide 1-{[(2S,5S,8S,11R,12S,15S,18S,21R)-2,8-bis-((S)-sec-butyl)-21-hydroxy-5-(4-hydroxy-benzyl)-15-isobutyl-4,11-dimethyl-3,6,9,13,16,22-hexaoxo-10-oxa-1,4,7,14,17-pentaaza-bicyclo[16.3.1]docos-12-yl]-amide} Treatment of Netherton syndrome, 17/10/2019 Positive

Orphan designation: Mavorixafor Treatment of WHIM syndrome, 25/07/2019 Positive

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Tuesday, April 9, 2024
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Orphan designation: Mavorixafor Treatment of WHIM syndrome, 25/07/2019 Positive

Key Points: 


Orphan designation: Mavorixafor Treatment of WHIM syndrome, 25/07/2019 Positive

Orphan designation: Azithromycin dihydrate Prevention of bronchopulmonary dysplasia, 14/01/2022 Positive

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
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Overview

Key Points: 
  • Overview
    This medicine was designated as an orphan medicine for the prevention of bronchopulmonary dysplasia in the European Union on 14 January 2022.
  • All medicines, including designated orphan medicines, must be authorised before they can be marketed and made available to patients in the EU.
  • The full list of orphan designations is available in the Community register of orphan medicinal products for human use.
  • EU register of orphan medicines
    The list of medicines that have received an orphan designation in the EU is available on the European Commission's website: