Nanoformulation of CCL21 greatly increases its effectiveness as an immunotherapy for neuroblastoma.

Neuroblastoma is the most commonly diagnosed extracranial solid tumor in children. The patients with aggressive metastatic disease or refractory/relapsed neuroblastoma currently face a dismally low chance of survival. Thus, there is a great need for more effective therapies for this illness. In previous studies, we, as well as others, showed that the immune cell chemoattractant C-C motif chemokine ligand 21 (CCL21) is effective as an intratumoral therapy able to slow the growth of cancers. In this current study, we developed and tested an injectable, slow-release, uniform, and optimally loaded alginate nanoformulation of CCL21 as a means to provide prolonged intratumoral treatment. The alginate-nanoformulated CCL21, when injected intratumorally into mice bearing neuroblastoma lesions, significantly prolonged survival and decreased the tumor growth rate compared to CCL21 alone, empty nanoparticles, or buffer. Notably, we also observed complete tumor clearance and subsequent full protection against tumor rechallenge in 33% of nanoformulated CCL21-treated mice. Greater intratumoral presence of nanoformulated CCL21, compared to free CCL21, at days 1 and 2 after treatment ended was confirmed through fluorescent labeling and tracking. Nanoformulated CCL21-treated tumors exhibited a general pattern of prolonged increases in anti-tumor cytokines and relatively lower levels of pro-tumor cytokines in comparison to tumors treated with CCL21 alone or buffer only. Thus, this novel nanoformulation of CCL21 is an effective treatment for neuroblastoma, and may have potential for the delivery of CCL21 to other types of solid tumors in the future and as a slow-release delivery modality for other immunotherapies.

Driving Safety and Real-Time Glucose Monitoring in Insulin-Dependent Diabetes.

Our goal is to address the need for driver-state detection using wearable and in-vehicle sensor measurements of driver physiology and health. To address this goal, we deployed in-vehicle systems, wearable sensors, and procedures capable of quantifying real-world driving behavior and performance in at-risk drivers with insulin-dependent type 1 diabetes mellitus (DM). We applied these methodologies over 4 weeks of continuous observation to quantify differences in real-world driver behavior profiles associated with physiologic changes in drivers with DM (N=19) and without DM (N=14). Results showed that DM driver behavior changed as a function of glycemic state, particularly hypoglycemia. DM drivers often drive during at-risk physiologic states, possibly due to unawareness of impairment, which in turn may relate to blunted physiologic responses (measurable heart rate) to hypoglycemia after repeated episodes of hypoglycemia. We found that this DM driver cohort has an elevated risk of crashes and citations, which our results suggest is linked to the DM driver's own momentary physiology. Overall, our findings demonstrate a clear link between at-risk driver physiology and real-world driving. By discovering key relationships between naturalistic driving and parameters of contemporaneous physiologic changes, like glucose control, this study directly advances the goal of driver-state detection through wearable physiologic sensors as well as efforts to develop "gold standard" metrics of driver safety and an individualized approach to driver health and wellness.

Amyloid precursor protein and amyloid precursor-like protein 2 in cancer.

Amyloid precursor protein (APP) and its family members amyloid precursor-like protein 1 (APLP1) and amyloid precursor-like protein 2 (APLP2) are type 1 transmembrane glycoproteins that are highly conserved across species. The transcriptional regulation of APP and APLP2 is similar but not identical, and the cleavage of both proteins is regulated by phosphorylation. APP has been implicated in Alzheimer's disease causation, and in addition to its importance in neurology, APP is deregulated in cancer cells. APLP2 is likewise overexpressed in cancer cells, and APLP2 and APP are linked to increased tumor cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. In this present review, we discuss the unfolding account of these APP family members' roles in cancer progression and metastasis.

Production of Recombinant Chemokines and Validation of Refolding.

The diverse roles of chemokines in normal immune function and many human diseases have motivated numerous investigations into the structure and function of this family of proteins. Recombinant chemokines are often used to study how chemokines coordinate the trafficking of immune cells in various biological contexts. A reliable source of biologically active protein is vital for any in vitro or in vivo functional analysis. In this chapter, we describe a general method for the production of recombinant chemokines and robust techniques for efficient refolding that ensure consistently high biological activity. Considerations for initiating development of protocols consistent with Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMPs) to produce biologically active chemokines suitable for use in clinical trials are also discussed.