The Use of Text Messaging as an Adjunct to Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Major Depressive Disorder in Youth: Secondary Analysis.

Background: As an established treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is now implemented and assessed in internet-based formats that, when combined with smartphone apps, enable secure text messaging. As an adjunct to such internet-based CBT (ICBT) approaches, text messaging has been associated with increased adherence and therapeutic alliance.

Objective: This study analyzed data from the intervention arm of a randomized control trial evaluating 24-week ICBT for MDD (intervention arm) against standard-care psychiatry (waitlist control).

The Role of Daily Steps in the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder: Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial of a 6-Month Internet-Based, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Intervention for Youth.

Background: Current evidence supports physical activity (PA) as an adjunctive treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD). Few studies, however, have examined the relationship between objectively measured PA and MDD treatment outcomes using prospective data.

Objective: This study is a secondary analysis of data from a 24-week internet-based, mindfulness-based cognitive behavioral therapy program for MDD.

Clinical Assessment of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing in Memory Distress: Protocol for a Double-Blinded Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Exposures to "traumatic" events are widespread and can cause posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Cognitive behavioral therapy and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) are frequently used and validated behavioral PTSD treatments. Despite demonstrated effectiveness, highly upsetting memory reactions can be evoked, resulting in extensive distress and, sometimes, treatment dropout.

TNB-738, a biparatopic antibody, boosts intracellular NAD+ by inhibiting CD38 ecto-enzyme activity.

Cluster of differentiation 38 (CD38) is an ecto-enzyme expressed primarily on immune cells that metabolize nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) to adenosine diphosphate ribose or cyclic ADP-ribose and nicotinamide. Other substrates of CD38 include nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate and nicotinamide mononucleotide, a critical NAD+ precursor in the salvage pathway. NAD+ is an important coenzyme involved in several metabolic pathways and is a required cofactor for the function of sirtuins (SIRTs) and poly (adenosine diphosphate-ribose) polymerases.

A Web-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Mindfulness Meditation, and Yoga Intervention for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Single-Arm Experimental Clinical Trial.

Background: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating, undertreated condition. The web-based delivery of cognitive behavioral therapy supplemented with mindfulness meditation and yoga is a viable treatment that emphasizes self-directed daily practice.

Objective: This study aims to examine the effectiveness of a web-based cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, and yoga (CBT-MY) program designed for daily use.

Attenuating CD3 affinity in a PSMAxCD3 bispecific antibody enables killing of prostate tumor cells with reduced cytokine release.

Background: Therapeutic options currently available for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) do not extend median overall survival >6 months. Therefore, the development of novel and effective therapies for mCRPC represents an urgent medical need. T cell engagers (TCEs) have emerged as a promising approach for the treatment of mCRPC due to their targeted mechanism of action.

TNB-486 induces potent tumor cell cytotoxicity coupled with low cytokine release in preclinical models of B-NHL.

The therapeutic potential of targeting CD19 in B cell malignancies has garnered attention in the past decade, resulting in the introduction of novel immunotherapy agents. Encouraging clinical data have been reported for T cell-based targeting agents, such as anti-CD19/CD3 bispecific T-cell engager blinatumomab and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T therapies, for acute lymphoblastic leukemia and B cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL). However, clinical use of both blinatumomab and CAR-T therapies has been limited due to unfavorable pharmacokinetics (PK), significant toxicity associated with cytokine release syndrome and neurotoxicity, and manufacturing challenges.

Meaning in life and vagally-mediated heart rate variability: Evidence of a quadratic relationship at baseline and vagal reactivity differences.

Higher meaning in life (MIL) consistently predicts better health, but the physiological processes underlying this relationship are not well understood. This study examined the relationship between MIL and vagally-mediated heart rate variability (VmHRV) under resting (N = 77), stressor (n = 73), and mindfulness intervention (n = 72) conditions. Regression was used for MIL-VmHRV analyses at baseline, and longitudinal mixed models were used to examine phasic changes in VmHRV as a function of MIL.

CD38 ecto-enzyme in immune cells is induced during aging and regulates NAD and NMN levels.

Decreased NAD levels have been shown to contribute to metabolic dysfunction during aging. NAD decline can be partially prevented by knockout of the enzyme CD38. However, it is not known how CD38 is regulated during aging, and how its ecto-enzymatic activity impacts NAD homeostasis.

Efficient tumor killing and minimal cytokine release with novel T-cell agonist bispecific antibodies.

T-cell-recruiting bispecific antibodies (T-BsAbs) have shown potent tumor killing activity in humans, but cytokine release-related toxicities have affected their clinical utility. The use of novel anti-CD3 binding domains with more favorable properties could aid in the creation of T-BsAbs with improved therapeutic windows. Using a sequence-based discovery platform, we identified new anti-CD3 antibodies from humanized rats that bind to multiple epitopes and elicit varying levels of T-cell activation.

Multispecific Antibody Development Platform Based on Human Heavy Chain Antibodies.

Heavy chain-only antibodies (HCAbs) do not associate with light chains and their V regions are functional as single domains, forming the smallest active antibody fragment. These V regions are ideal building blocks for a variety of antibody-based biologics because they tolerate fusion to other molecules and may also be attached in series to construct multispecific antibodies without the need for protein engineering to ensure proper heavy and light chain pairing. Production of human HCAbs has been impeded by the fact that natural human V regions require light chain association and display poor biophysical characteristics when expressed in the absence of light chains.

Sequence-Based Discovery Demonstrates That Fixed Light Chain Human Transgenic Rats Produce a Diverse Repertoire of Antigen-Specific Antibodies.

We created a novel transgenic rat that expresses human antibodies comprising a diverse repertoire of heavy chains with a single common rearranged kappa light chain (IgKV3-15-JK1). This fixed light chain animal, called OmniFlic, presents a unique system for human therapeutic antibody discovery and a model to study heavy chain repertoire diversity in the context of a constant light chain. The purpose of this study was to analyze heavy chain variable gene usage, clonotype diversity, and to describe the sequence characteristics of antigen-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) isolated from immunized OmniFlic animals.