Cell Reports

ImmunoScape Appoints Systems Immunology and Computational Biology Expert Dr. John Tsang to its Scientific Advisory Board

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, December 12, 2023

ImmunoScape , a biotechnology company focused on next-generation immunotherapies, today announced the appointment of John Tsang, Ph.D. to its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB).

Key Points: 
  • ImmunoScape , a biotechnology company focused on next-generation immunotherapies, today announced the appointment of John Tsang, Ph.D. to its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB).
  • Dr. Tsang joins a distinguished group of leading scientists in immunology and oncology who help to guide ImmunoScape’s scientific strategy.
  • Dr. Tsang was also the Co-Director of the Trans-NIH Center for Human Immunology (CHI) and led its research program in systems human immunology.
  • Dr. Tsang has won multiple awards for his research, including several NIH/NIAID Merit Awards recognizing his scientific leadership in systems immunology, COVID-19, and human immunology research.

ChromaDex Corporation Reports Third Quarter 2023 Financial Results

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, November 8, 2023

ChromaDex Corp. (NASDAQ: CDXC) today announced financial results for the third quarter of 2023.

Key Points: 
  • ChromaDex Corp. (NASDAQ: CDXC) today announced financial results for the third quarter of 2023.
  • Strong gross margin of 61.4%, an increase of 160 basis points, compared to 59.8% from the prior year quarter.
  • Adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, was a positive $0.5 million, a $1.7 million improvement from the prior year quarter.
  • In October 2023, Zesty Paws, a prominent name in pet supplements, partnered with ChromaDex to launch a Healthy Aging NAD+ Precursor supplement for pets, featuring Niagen®.

Breakthrough T Cell Discovery Has Huge Potential for Engineering Custom Immune Responses

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Key Points: 
  • View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231025385833/en/
    Until now, understanding how a T cell forms into a specific role, for example a cell-killing (cytotoxic) T cell or memory T cell, has eluded us.
  • In a just-published paper in Cell Reports , ISB researchers made the breakthrough discovery that the genetically encoded T-cell receptor (TCR) sequence that humans develop in early childhood determines a T cell’s function.
  • The potential of this fundamental discovery is promising for developing custom immune responses to specific antigens.
  • In such therapies, the T cells that comprise the drug are typically engineered to aggressively kill cancer cells.

ImmunoScape Uses Machine Learning to Accurately Predict Antigen Specificity Based on T-Cell Phenotypes in New Peer-Reviewed Research

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, October 19, 2023

The research could have profound implications for the use of machine learning in the discovery and development of T-cell based immunotherapies.

Key Points: 
  • The research could have profound implications for the use of machine learning in the discovery and development of T-cell based immunotherapies.
  • Machine learning models trained on immune profile features of virus-specific cells were built to predict viral T-cell specificity.
  • Machine learning was used to predict antigen specificity from T-cell phenotypes.
  • Machine learning can be used as a statistically rigorous and unbiased method to accurately predict antigen specificity based on T-cell phenotype information.

A Milestone Clinical Study Reveals that Elevating Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NAD+) with Nicotinamide Riboside (NR) Supplementation Effectively Reduces Inflammation in Both Healthy Subjects and Immune Cells Derived from Psoriasis Patients

Retrieved on: 
Monday, October 2, 2023

The clinical trial was part of the ChromaDex External Research Program (CERP™), which donated ChromaDex’s patented nicotinamide riboside (NR) ingredient, Niagen, for the advancement of this research.

Key Points: 
  • The clinical trial was part of the ChromaDex External Research Program (CERP™), which donated ChromaDex’s patented nicotinamide riboside (NR) ingredient, Niagen, for the advancement of this research.
  • This is Dr. Sack’s fourth published study on NR, and the seventh clinical study overall, that demonstrates NR’s effectiveness in reducing inflammation, an important indicator of how the body is aging,” remarked Rob Fried, CEO of ChromaDex.
  • This is the third published human clinical study demonstrating that NR supplementation has a protective effect in healthy individuals and lays the foundation for future clinical research ( Elhassan et al.
  • Research suggests a depletion of NAD+ is associated with impaired inflammatory responses and innate immune dysfunction, indicating NAD+ levels may have a critical impact on the function of immune cells.

ISB Researchers Find a Chink in the Armor of Tuberculosis Pathogen

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, August 29, 2023

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is the pathogen that causes tuberculosis (TB), the world’s deadliest infectious disease.

Key Points: 
  • Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is the pathogen that causes tuberculosis (TB), the world’s deadliest infectious disease.
  • Mtb is so successful and harmful because it can adapt to different conditions inside our bodies, allowing it to evade treatment.
  • When the network is disrupted, researchers found that Mtb’s cells are unable to properly divide, compromising their cell wall – a key defense mechanism.
  • EGRIN 2.0 identified a signaling system called MtrA that helps the pathogen grow in response to signals from a host’s body.

Kanazawa University research: Brain cancer linked to nuclear pore alterations

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, August 22, 2023

KANAZAWA, Japan, Aug. 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers at Kanazawa University report in Cell Reports how alterations in the nuclear pores lead to the degradation of anti-tumor proteins.

Key Points: 
  • KANAZAWA, Japan, Aug. 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers at Kanazawa University report in Cell Reports how alterations in the nuclear pores lead to the degradation of anti-tumor proteins.
  • Several types of cancer are believed to be linked to alterations of macromolecular structures known as nuclear pore complexes (NPCs).
  • Whether NPC alterations play a role in glioblastoma, the most common type of cancer originating in the brain, is unclear at the moment.
  • Mitsutoshi Nakada and Richard Wong and colleagues first checked whether any nuclear pore complex proteins were amplified ('overexpressed') in glioblastoma.

Kanazawa University research: Brain cancer linked to nuclear pore alterations

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, August 22, 2023

KANAZAWA, Japan, Aug. 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers at Kanazawa University report in Cell Reports how alterations in the nuclear pores lead to the degradation of anti-tumor proteins.

Key Points: 
  • KANAZAWA, Japan, Aug. 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Researchers at Kanazawa University report in Cell Reports how alterations in the nuclear pores lead to the degradation of anti-tumor proteins.
  • Several types of cancer are believed to be linked to alterations of macromolecular structures known as nuclear pore complexes (NPCs).
  • Whether NPC alterations play a role in glioblastoma, the most common type of cancer originating in the brain, is unclear at the moment.
  • Mitsutoshi Nakada and Richard Wong and colleagues first checked whether any nuclear pore complex proteins were amplified ('overexpressed') in glioblastoma.

PhenomeX Announces Lifting of the Stay in AbCellera Patent Infringement Case

Retrieved on: 
Monday, August 7, 2023

EMERYVILLE, Calif., Aug. 7, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PhenomeX Inc. (Nasdaq: CELL), the functional cell biology company, today announced that the series of lawsuits filed by AbCellera in 2020 will now proceed in litigation. AbCellera contends that PhenomeX's Beacon® platform infringes certain U.S. patents claiming methods of cell culture and analysis developed on microfluidic chips featuring microwells and pressurized valves—neither of which are found in PhenomeX's OptoSelect® chips. PhenomeX's Beacon platform is protected by a growing portfolio of over 500 patents and has been featured in a number of groundbreaking studies, including a study on SARS-CoV-2 research recently published in Cell Reports about the Omicron variant. PhenomeX is confident it will prevail in this litigation and continue its mission to develop and deliver critical cell biology research solutions to its customers.

Key Points: 
  • PhenomeX stands behind its ground-breaking Beacon® technology that advances human health globally; remains confident it will prove its case in court
    EMERYVILLE, Calif., Aug. 7, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PhenomeX Inc. (Nasdaq: CELL), the functional cell biology company, today announced that the series of lawsuits filed by AbCellera in 2020 will now proceed in litigation.
  • AbCellera contends that PhenomeX's Beacon® platform infringes certain U.S. patents claiming methods of cell culture and analysis developed on microfluidic chips featuring microwells and pressurized valves—neither of which are found in PhenomeX's OptoSelect® chips.
  • PhenomeX's Beacon platform is protected by a growing portfolio of over 500 patents and has been featured in a number of groundbreaking studies, including a study on SARS-CoV-2 research recently published in Cell Reports

Sugar Rush: Scientists Discover Key Role of Glucose in Brain Activity

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, April 18, 2023

SAN FRANCISCO, April 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The human brain has a sweet tooth, burning through nearly one quarter of the body's sugar energy, or glucose, each day. Now, researchers at Gladstone Institutes and UC San Francisco (UCSF) have shed new light on exactly how neurons—the cells that send electrical signals through the brain—consume and metabolize glucose, as well as how these cells adapt to glucose shortages.

Key Points: 
  • Previously, scientists had suspected that much of the glucose used by the brain was metabolized by other brain cells called glia, which support the activity of neurons.
  • Past studies have established that the brain's uptake of glucose is decreased in the early stages of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
  • Scientists have long debated what happens to glucose in the brain, and many have suggested that neurons themselves don't metabolize the sugar.
  • They engineered the animals' neurons— but not other brain cell types—to lack the proteins required for glucose import and glycolysis.