INSIGHTS ON CELL & GENE THERAPY DISCOVERY

• A Novel CAR-T Cell Therapy Approach Using Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting And Stem Cell Transplantation

  Successful chimeric antigen receptor- (CAR-) T cell therapy requires a target antigen that is unique to cancer cells. But what happens when there are no unique antigens? Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center addressed this problem by replacing healthy non-target cells with genetically modified versions lacking the CAR-T cell target (Borot et al., 2019). Their results, published in PNAS, may provide a new avenue for treatment of some types of cancer.

• A New International Standard To Measure DNA?

  The breadth of digital PCR (dPCR) applications continues to grow and fulfill critical scientific needs. One of the major advantages the technology confers is the ability to count nucleic acid molecules directly, rather than extrapolating quantity based on standard curves as with many other methods. By harmonizing diagnostic procedures on dPCR platforms, the scientific and medical communities can become more coordinated and efficient than ever before.

• 10 Tips For Setting Up A Successful Cell Sorting Experiment

  Presented here are some tips to keep in mind when starting a cell sorting experiment. They will help you to maximize cell viability, separation, and isolation, and set you up for successful downstream applications.

• Sorting An Old Problem: Are Cells Stressed By Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting?

  Fluorescence-activated cell sorting is a valuable tool for research, allowing separation of a mixture of cells into distinct populations for analysis. But could the physical forces of sorting stress the cells, altering their behavior and confounding experimental results? Andrä et al. (2020) found that although cell sorting activated p38 MAPK stress signaling, no functional or structural changes were observable. The results indicate that jet-in-air systems such as the Bio‑Rad S3e Cell Sorter do not alter cell behavior.

• 7 Tips For Purchasing Your Next Cell Sorter

  This article shares some tips to help you avoid buyer’s remorse and make an educated decision about which instrument to purchase. These tips provide you with the tools to make an informed decision when purchasing a cell sorter.

• Developing TIL Therapies: Sample Collection And Processing

  While it has been advanced over many years, the process of developing TIL therapies still suffers from certain challenges. This article attempts to lay bare some of these challenges and discuss how novel technological solutions can help overcome them.

• Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes: What, Why, And How

  As we explore immune mechanisms using technology, we find better ways to fight disease. Here, we focus on targeted, highly personalized cancer therapies called tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes.

• Organs On Chips: Solving Persistent Pharmacokinetic Problems

  For many years, a rather insistent, expensive problem has been plaguing pharmacology — it’s quite tricky to understand the pharmacokinetics of new drugs without giving them to someone. Organs-on-chips, the specialty of Dr. Dan Tagle at the NIH, could be the answer.

• Using Preamplification To Maximize qPCR Data From Limited Samples

  Preamplification is frequently treated as a necessary evil as many fear that it may introduce bias into their experiments, leading to the generation of inaccurate results. Preamplification is also sometimes misunderstood as being a magic bullet to boost qPCR sensitivity. This article addresses these issues as well as others, so that you can be confident when using preamplification in your qPCR experiments.

• Robust Field Guide To qPCR

  qPCR remains the gold standard for validation of microarray and next generation sequencing data and the method of choice for both clinical and basic research labs for a wide range of applications. However, there remains general concern about the production of data that truly reflects the tested experimental conditions. We have developed a comprehensive guide to performing the ultimate qPCR experiment. The following is a snapshot of the critical steps needed to achieve excellent results.