Transcriptomic Maps of Colorectal Liver Metastasis: Machine Learning of Gene Activation Patterns and Epigenetic Trajectories in Support of Precision Medicine.

The molecular mechanisms of the liver metastasis of colorectal cancer (CRLM) remain poorly understood. Here, we applied machine learning and bioinformatics trajectory inference to analyze a gene expression dataset of CRLM. We studied the co-regulation patterns at the gene level, the potential paths of tumor development, their functional context, and their prognostic relevance.

The manufacturing considerations of bispecific antibodies.

Introduction: Antibody therapies have made huge strides in providing safe and efficacious drugs for autoimmune, cancer, and infectious diseases. These bispecific antibodies can be assembled from the basic building blocks of IgGs, resulting in dozens of formats.

Areas Covered: It is important to consider the manufacturability of these formats early in the antibody discovery phases.

TCR Fingerprinting and Off-Target Peptide Identification.

Adoptive T cell therapy using patient T cells redirected to recognize tumor-specific antigens by expressing genetically engineered high-affinity T-cell receptors (TCRs) has therapeutic potential for melanoma and other solid tumors. Clinical trials implementing genetically modified TCRs in melanoma patients have raised concerns regarding off-target toxicities resulting in lethal destruction of healthy tissue, highlighting the urgency of assessing which off-target peptides can be recognized by a TCR. As a model system we used the clinically efficacious NY-ESO-1-specific TCR C, which recognizes the peptide epitope SLLMWITQC presented by HLA-A02:01.

Toxicological and pharmacological assessment of AGEN1884, a novel human IgG1 anti-CTLA-4 antibody.

CTLA-4 and CD28 exemplify a co-inhibitory and co-stimulatory signaling axis that dynamically sculpts the interaction of antigen-specific T cells with antigen-presenting cells. Anti-CTLA-4 antibodies enhance tumor-specific immunity through a variety of mechanisms including: blockade of CD80 or CD86 binding to CTLA-4, repressing regulatory T cell function and selective elimination of intratumoral regulatory T cells via an Fcγ receptor-dependent mechanism. AGEN1884 is a novel IgG1 antibody targeting CTLA-4.

Effects of heterocyclic aromatic substituents on binding affinities at two distinct sites of somatostatin receptors. Correlation with the electrostatic potential of the substituents.

In our continuing program exploring glucose-based peptidomimetics of somatostatin (SRIF-14), we sought to improve the water solubility of our glycosides. This led to insights into the nature of the ligand binding sites at the SRIF receptor. Replacement of the C4 benzyl substituent in glucoside (+)-2 with pyridinylmethyl or pyrazin-2-ylmethyl congeners increased water solubility and enhanced affinity for the human SRIF subtype receptor 4 (sst4).

Discovery informatics: its evolving role in drug discovery.

Drug discovery and development is a highly complex process requiring the generation of very large amounts of data and information. Currently this is a largely unmet informatics challenge. The current approaches to building information and knowledge from large amounts of data has been addressed in cases where the types of data are largely homogeneous or at the very least well-defined.