A novel oral formulation of the melanocortin-1 receptor agonist PL8177 resolves inflammation in preclinical studies of inflammatory bowel disease and is gut restricted in rats, dogs, and humans.

Introduction: PL8177 is a potent and selective agonist of the melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R). PL8177 has shown efficacy in reversing intestinal inflammation in a cannulated rat ulcerative colitis model. To facilitate oral delivery, a novel, polymer-encapsulated formulation of PL8177 was developed.

Circulating T Cell Subpopulations Correlate With Immune Responses at the Tumor Site and Clinical Response to PD1 Inhibition in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer.

Agents targeting the PD1-PDL1 axis have transformed cancer therapy. Factors that influence clinical response to PD1-PDL1 inhibitors include tumor mutational burden, immune infiltration of the tumor, and local PDL1 expression. To identify peripheral correlates of the anti-tumor immune response in the absence of checkpoint blockade, we performed a retrospective study of circulating T cell subpopulations and matched tumor gene expression in melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.

Hypoxia and transforming growth factor-beta1 pathway activation promote Chinese Hamster Ovary cell aggregation.

Suspension cultivation is the preferred mode of operation for the large-scale production of many biologics. Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells are anchorage-dependent in origin, but they have been widely adapted to suspension culture. In suspension culture, formation of CHO cell aggregates is a common phenomenon and compromises cell culture performance in multiple ways.

Hypoxia influences protein transport and epigenetic repression of CHO cell cultures in shake flasks.

Shake flasks and bench-top bioreactors are widely used for cell culture process development, however, culture performances significantly differ between them. In order to apply the results received from small-scale cultures to production scale, it is important to understand the mechanisms underlying the differences between various culture systems. This study analyzes the expression patterns of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells producing IgG-fusion protein B0 cultured in shake flasks and 5-L bench-top bioreactors by CHO-specific DNA microarrays.