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T’ing it Up for Bi-Specific Antibodies…(Part 1)

With the current trend of developing immunotherapies for cancer, many of these therapies center on exploiting the potent effector functions of lymphocytes, specifically T cells.  In our previous blogs, we introduced a new class of therapeutic molecules called bi-specific antibodies and discussed their mechanism of action for anti-cancer therapy.  In this blog, we will discuss in vitro assays that use T cells to develop bi-specific antibody programs. What are CD4 and CD8 T cells? In most organismal immune systems, there are two main types of T cells.  One type is the CD4 T cell, which is a hematopoietic cell that [...]

By |2021-12-19T13:23:59-08:00November 7th, 2017|Bi-specific Antibody, Blog, T Cells|0 Comments
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Antibodies with a Split Personality…(Part 3)

In the final part of our series on bi-specific antibodies, we’ll discuss some of the assays that are used to test the specificity, functionality, and safety of bi-specific antibodies. How are bi-specific antibodies tested for antigen specificity? As described in our previous blogs, bi-specific antibodies have the capability to recognize two different antigens due to the presence of two different antigen recognition domains.  To ensure that each arm has specificity for the correct antigen, binding assays are performed with a cell line that expresses the antigen recognized by one arm of the bi-specific antibody.  Typically, flow cytometry is used as [...]

By |2021-12-19T13:24:07-08:00August 8th, 2017|Bi-specific Antibody, Blog|0 Comments
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Antibodies with a Split Personality…(Part 2)

How were bi-specific antibodies initially created? Each individual bivalent, monospecific antibody is composed of two identical heavy chains and two identical light chains, in which a single heavy chain combines with a light chain to create an individual target antigen recognition site.  Since there are two antigen binding sites per antibody, two heavy-light chain pairs combine and form a bivalent, monospecific antibody.  When producing these antibodies, only one heavy chain and its corresponding light chain is expressed by the cells because there is only one specific target antigen for the antibody. In contrast, bi-specific antibodies are created by expressing two [...]

By |2021-12-19T13:24:15-08:00June 13th, 2017|Bi-specific Antibody, Blog|0 Comments
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Antibodies with a Split Personality…(Part 1)

What is a bi-specific antibody? Bi-specific antibodies are a class of engineered antibodies developed for various oncology indications and autoimmune diseases.  Typically, the antigen recognition domains on the tips of the F(ab)2 fragment of a standard antibody are identical and bind the same antigen.  In contrast, bi-specific antibodies have different antigen recognition domains on each of those tips and each tip will thus bind a different antigen. With advances in genetic and protein engineering and recombinant protein expression, different types of bi-specific antibodies can be produced.  While there are a variety of bi-specific antibodies that are found in at least [...]

By |2021-12-19T13:24:22-08:00May 2nd, 2017|Bi-specific Antibody, Blog|0 Comments
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Serious Monkey Business: A Short Take on Cynomolgus Monkeys in Research

What are cynomolgus monkeys? Cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis), also known as the long-tailed or crab-eating macaque, are non-human primates (NHP) commonly used in biomedical research.  There are 10 subspecies of these macaques and they are found predominantly in southeast Asia.  The cynomolgus monkeys are typically 15-22 inches long, and the females weigh between 7-13 pounds, while males can weigh between 11-20 pounds. Why use cynomolgus monkeys and how are they used in biomedical research? Cynomolgus monkeys are frequently used in biomedical research because researchers believe these monkeys are the ideal models due to the 90-93% genetic similarity to and recent [...]

By |2021-12-19T13:24:30-08:00March 7th, 2017|Antibody-Dependent Cell-Mediated Cytotoxicity, Bioservices, Blog, Complement-Dependent Cytotoxicity, Cynomolgus Monkey, In-Vitro Bioservices, PBMCs|0 Comments
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It’s All About the Mice: How the Mouse is Used in Research

What are inbred mice, why use them, and how are they generated? Inbred mice?  Knockout mice?  Transgenic mice?  Congenic mice?  Why so many?!  Inbred mice are mice that are genetically identical within a generation and across generations.  The use of these animals permits reproducibility and consistency across experiments in order to make definitive observations and interpretations that cannot be attributed to genetic variation.  For example, humans are an outbred species and each individual responds differently to the same influenza virus.  This is due to the genetic variation in humans in which some of us carry certain alleles for genes that [...]

By |2021-12-19T13:24:37-08:00February 7th, 2017|Blog, C57BL/6, CD45.1, CD45.2, In-Vitro Bioservices|0 Comments
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Hurry up and Wait? The recent fuss about CAR-Ts

What are CAR-T cells? CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) T cells (CAR-T) are genetically engineered T cells that express receptors which recognize cancer antigens and attack the cells that express them. Therefore, they are a new cell-based immunotherapy for oncology indications. The results for leukemia and lymphoma patients receiving CD19-specific CAR-T cells have been extremely promising so far. CAR-T currently come in two main flavors: autologous or allogeneic. In order to prevent an allogeneic response against foreign T cells, CAR T cells are generated from the patient’s own T cells. T cells are taken from the patient and genetically engineered to [...]

By |2021-12-19T13:24:44-08:00August 30th, 2016|Bioservices, Blog, Immuno-Oncology, In-Vitro Bioservices|0 Comments
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Immuno-Oncology: I-O, I-O, Off to Fighting Cancer We Go… (Part 3)

What assays are used to identify good therapeutic candidates that modulate the immune response? This is Part 3 of our series, “Immuno-Oncology: I-O, I-O, Off to Fighting Cancer We Go…”. Miss Part 1 or Part 2? Catch up! What assays are used to identify good therapeutic candidates that modulate the immune response? The approval of Yervoy ushered in a new era of cancer treatment options where the immune system could be modulated to attack and eliminate cancer cells. Following suit, it is forecasted by financial experts that the immuno-oncology treatment space could be worth $20-50 billion dollars by 2020. Not [...]

By |2021-12-19T13:24:50-08:00July 5th, 2016|Bioservices, Blog, Immuno-Oncology|0 Comments
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Immuno-Oncology: I-O, I-O, Off to Fighting Cancer We Go… (Part 2)

What molecules can modulate the immune response? What are examples of those being developed as therapeutics? This is Part 2 of our series, “Immuno-Oncology: I-O, I-O, Off to Fighting Cancer We Go…”. Miss Part 1? Catch up here. What are some of the molecules that inhibit immune response currently being developed? As mentioned in Part 1, therapeutics against checkpoint inhibitor molecules, such as CTLA-4 and PD-1, are currently approved for certain indications while also undergoing clinical trials for others. In addition, trials are underway for therapeutics that target PD-L1, the ligand for PD-1, which is found to be up-regulated in [...]

By |2021-12-19T13:24:55-08:00June 7th, 2016|Bioservices, Blog, Immuno-Oncology|0 Comments
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Immuno-Oncology: I-O, I-O, Off to Fighting Cancer We Go… (Part 1)

What is I-O? What are checkpoint inhibitors? What is immuno-oncology? The field of immuno-oncology, also known as cancer immunotherapy, is centered on mobilizing the immune system to attack cancer cells and eradicate tumors. With this approach, therapeutics target molecules on lymphocytes that will either activate them or keep them from being inactivated, in order to sustain the immune response. With a sustained response, the immune system can search for and eliminate cancerous cells and tumors. Many years of research and development went into targeting these types of molecules on lymphocytes and, finally, with the approval of Yervoy® (ipilimumab, www.yervoy.com/) by [...]

By |2021-12-19T13:25:02-08:00May 10th, 2016|Bioservices, Blog, Immuno-Oncology|0 Comments
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