The Alliance Between the German Cancer Research Center and Bayer: A Retrospective of an Innovative Collaboration Model.

In 2009, the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the biopharmaceutical company Bayer AG initiated an academic-industry co-discovery collaboration. The partners combined their expertise in tumor biology and drug discovery to identify and validate novel targets for cancer treatment. In the early phase of the Alliance, the focus was on target identification and validation projects.

TGF-β1 potentiates Vγ9Vδ2 T cell adoptive immunotherapy of cancer.

Despite its role in cancer surveillance, adoptive immunotherapy using γδ T cells has achieved limited efficacy. To enhance trafficking to bone marrow, circulating Vγ9Vδ2 T cells are expanded in serum-free medium containing TGF-β1 and IL-2 (γδ[T2] cells) or medium containing IL-2 alone (γδ[2] cells, as the control). Unexpectedly, the yield and viability of γδ[T2] cells are also increased by TGF-β1, when compared to γδ[2] controls.

Neuropeptide S receptor 1 is a nonhormonal treatment target in endometriosis.

Endometriosis is a common chronic inflammatory condition causing pelvic pain and infertility in women, with limited treatment options and 50% heritability. We leveraged genetic analyses in two species with spontaneous endometriosis, humans and the rhesus macaque, to uncover treatment targets. We sequenced DNA from 32 human families contributing to a genetic linkage signal on chromosome 7p13-15 and observed significant overrepresentation of predicted deleterious low-frequency coding variants in , the gene encoding neuropeptide S receptor 1, in cases (predominantly stage III/IV) versus controls ( = 7.

Author Correction: Amine oxidase 3 is a novel pro-inflammatory marker of oxidative stress in peritoneal endometriosis lesions.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Amine oxidase 3 is a novel pro-inflammatory marker of oxidative stress in peritoneal endometriosis lesions.

Endometriosis is a common gynaecological disease of women in reproductive age, and is thought to arise from retrograde menstruation and implantation of endometrial tissue, mostly into the peritoneal cavity. The condition is characterized by a chronic, unresolved inflammatory process thereby contributing to pain as cardinal symptom in endometriosis. Elevated reactive oxygen species (ROS) and oxidative stress have been postulated as factors in endometriosis pathogenesis.