Publications by authors named "Ryan Z Urak"
Conditionally Replicating Vectors Mobilize Chimeric Antigen Receptors against HIV.
Mol Ther Methods Clin Dev
December 2020
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is an attractive target for chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) therapy. CAR T cells have proved remarkably potent in targeted killing of cancer cells, and we surmised that CAR T cells could prove useful in eradicating HIV-infected cells. Toward this goal, we interrogate several neutralizing single-chain variable fragments (scFvs) that target different regions of the HIV envelope glycoprotein, gp120.
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- Rice blast, a major rice disease caused by the fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, has been affecting California since 1996, but there was previously no research on the local pathogen population.
- A study comparing pathogen samples from the 1990s to those collected about a decade later showed a significant increase in genetic diversity, with the emergence of 14 new genotypes (MLGs) alongside a decrease in the original genotype (MLG1).
- Some of the new genotypes were found to infect the resistant rice cultivar M-208, suggesting the need for updated strategies in breeding rice varieties that can withstand the evolving pathogen.
Myeloablative autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a mainstay of therapy for relapsed intermediate-grade B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL); however, relapse rates are high. In phase 1 studies designed to improve long-term remission rates, we administered adoptive T-cell immunotherapy after HSCT, using ex vivo-expanded autologous central memory-enriched T cells (TCM) transduced with lentivirus expressing CD19-specific chimeric antigen receptors (CARs). We present results from 2 safety/feasibility studies, NHL1 and NHL2, investigating different T-cell populations and CAR constructs.
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