2024
February
MEGA news in gene editing: using new CRISPR technology for RNA knockdown
February 28, 2024
The CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing platform has revolutionized research and medicine by allowing for precise editing of DNA. However, these systems cannot be dynamically regulated and have limitations in their safety and efficacy. To overcome some of these limitations, Tieu et al. developed multiplexed effector guide arrays (MEGA) – a CRISPR-Cas13d platform that targets...
Taking tips from T cell cancers to improve T cell therapies
February 21, 2024
T cell therapies have been used to treat numerous cancers, but they are often limited by poor proliferation, limited persistence, immunosuppressive tumor environments, and exhaustion. In order to overcome some of these limitations, Garcia and Daniels et al. investigated naturally occurring mutations in T cell neoplasms (including clonal cells from autoinflammatory conditions and...
Antigen-specific T cells in blood predict anti-PD-1 responses in Merkel cell carcinoma
February 14, 2024
Tumor antigen-specific CD8+ T cells are known to be important in antitumor immunity, but identifying them in patient samples is often a challenge. In order to study tumor antigen-specific CD8+ T cell as potential biomarkers of response, two groups, Pulliam and Jani et al. and Ryu et al., recently evaluated them in Merkel...
Adding a personalized neoantigen vaccine to checkpoint blockade keeps resected melanoma away in a phase IIb trial
February 7, 2024
Following surgical resection of high-risk cutaneous melanoma, patients are generally treated with checkpoint inhibitors to prevent tumor recurrence, but a high proportion of patients still recur within 5 years. In an effort to reduce these recurrence rates, Weber et al. evaluated the addition of adjuvant personalized neoantigen vaccines (mRNA-4157) in a phase IIb...
