Bioconjugation of Synthetic Peptides onto Universal Chimeric Antigen Receptor T Cells for Targeted Cancer Immunotherapies.

The recent development of modular universal chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell platforms that use bifunctional adaptor intermediates to redirect engineered T-cell effector function has greatly expanded the capabilities of adoptive T-cell therapy, enabling safer and more comprehensive cancer treatment. However, universal CAR receptor systems rely on unstable transient recognition of tag-coupled intermediates for T-cell activation, and the array of targeting intermediates has been limited to antibodies and small molecules. Addressing these shortcomings, we engineered universal CAR T-cell receptors that can be covalently modified with synthetic biomaterials by accelerated SpyCatcher003-SpyTag003 chemistry for cancer-cell targeting.

DNA Aptamer-Polymer Conjugates for Selective Targeting of Integrin α4β1 T-Lineage Cancers.

Selective therapeutic targeting of T-cell malignancies is difficult due to the shared lineage between healthy and malignant T cells. Current front-line chemotherapy for these cancers is largely nonspecific, resulting in frequent cases of relapsed/refractory disease. The development of targeting approaches for effectively treating T-cell leukemia and lymphoma thus remains a critical goal for the oncology field.

Disaster preparedness for intensive care units: Priorities to inform crisis standards of care.

Background: The number of disasters occurring globally is increasing. Natural hazards, changing geopolitical situations, and increasing population densities may lead to an increased likelihood of a surge of patients requiring health care, some of whom might be requiring intensive care-level treatment. There is a dearth of literature on intensive care unit (ICU) practitioner's priorities regarding disaster preparedness and crisis standards of care.

Starting a surgical prehabilitation program: results from a pragmatic nonrandomized feasibility study.

Purpose: We sought to assess the feasibility and estimate the effects on outcomes of a multimodal prehabilitation service implemented as an ancillary surgical service.

Methods: We conducted a pragmatic, nonrandomized feasibility study of surgical prehabilitation. Patients were eligible if they were ≥ 18 yr of age, fluent in English, and referred by a health professional for prehabilitation.

Child, family and professional views on valued communication outcomes for non-verbal children with neurodisability: A qualitative meta-synthesis.

Background: There are many children with neurodisability who are unable to rely on speech to communicate and so use a range of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) methods and strategies to get their message across. Current instruments designed to measure the outcomes of speech and language therapy interventions lack specific attention to communication outcomes that are valued by non-verbal children with neurodisability, their families and support networks. This qualitative meta-synthesis was conducted to identify valued communication outcomes to inform the next stage of developing a novel outcome measure.