The controlled cell death process of apoptosis functions as the first step to any full recovery from injury or disease. In the second step of any recovery process, dead cells are cleared by efferocytosis, a process performed by phagocytotic cells like macrophages. Approximately 200-300 billion apoptotic cells are cleared daily by efferocytosis starting with the recognition of newly extracellular facing phosphatidylserine (PtdSer) by PtdSer-binding proteins present on phagocytotic cells.
Eleven vaccines have now been approved by the World Health Organization for preventing COVID-19, but all exhibit drastically reduced activities after 6 months. Unlike vaccines that express only the spike protein as the immunogen, live attenuated vaccines have the potential to confer a broader and more durable protection.
Ethris GmbH has entered into a collaboration with Diosynvax Ltd. to jointly develop a protective mRNA vaccine candidate against a broad range of betacoronaviruses utilizing the company's highly differentiated mRNA modification and design technologies as well as its lipidoid nanoparticle (LNP) and stabilization platforms.
RQ Biotechnology Ltd. (RQ Bio) has announced that the first of its discovered monoclonal antibodies to prevent COVID-19 in vulnerable patients, AZD-3152, has entered clinical trials.
Although ovarian cancers appear to be immunologically active, they do not respond well to immunotherapy in the clinic. In a study published on Dec. 14, 2022, in Nature, a multidisciplinary team at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) led by Sohrab Shah and Dmitriy Zamarin has uncovered several mechanisms of immune evasion that can help explain why ovarian cancers have been resistant to immunotherapy to date.
Eurocine Vaccines AB has reported findings from preclinical studies evaluating its mRNA and protein technology platforms for its therapeutic herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) vaccine candidates. Initial results from the study, comparing the two technology platforms at multiple doses, demonstrate that the mRNA and the protein vaccines were well tolerated and generated T-cell and antibody responses.
Jiangsu Recbio Technology Co. Ltd. has received clinical trial approval for its novel adjuvanted recombinant shingles vaccine, REC-610, from the Food and Drug Administration of the Philippines. A phase I trial will be conducted in healthy volunteers.
Research shows that microglia, macrophage cells found in the central nervous system, are needed to maintain nerve health by preventing the degeneration of the myelin sheath that protects neurons. The study, led by the University of Edinburgh and the University of Toronto and published on Dec. 14, 2022, in Nature, showed microglia could be a potential therapeutic target for neurological conditions involving myelin degeneration.
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