Caffeine is an Indirect Anti-Inflammatory Drug Interleukin-1β production is regulated by inflammasomes, a very large protein complex commonly associated with inflammation and pyroptosis. As the human body ages and accumulates metabolites, the inflammasome interacts with them and is primed for
February 2017: The Antibody Update
Epidermal Levels of Staphylococcus Aureus Are Affected by a Peptide Produced by Other Skin Dwelling Bacteria Staphylococcus aureus is common to many of people’s ski n microbiome, and is generally harmless; however, in high population density the bacteria can lead to atopic
Problems with Immunotherapy
Pairs of proteins that act as T-cell co-signaling receptors are called immune checkpoints. These cell surface receptors can send positive or negative signals to T cells, instigating a response from the immune system to either stimulate the immune system against
January 2017: The Antibody Update
Mitigating the Reproducibility Crisis in Cancer Drug Research Reproducibility has been highlighted as one of the main problems when validating cancer research. Scientists with the The Reproducibility Project have opted to begin pragmatically reviewing the reproducibility of the research released
T-cell Activation: The Purpose of CD28, CTLA-4, and CD80/CD86
A Guide to CD28, CTLA-4, and CD80/CD86 Interaction and Signaling Immune checkpoint receptors like CD28 and CTLA-4 have been of great interest in the research of cancer immunotherapy. These receptors and their ligands are part of what regulates T-cell activation
December 2016: The Antibody Update
Merck’s Ebola Vaccine is 100% Effective An extremely effective Ebola virus vaccine created by Merck was recently tested in Guinea with 100% effectiveness. Though the vaccine is late for the worst part of the infection, the results are so promising
November 2016: The Antibody Update
China Perform First Injection of CRISPR Modified Cells into a Person Use of CRISPR-Cas9 in human cells for treatment of disease has been a controversial topic amongst scientists since the discovery of the powerful gene editing tool. In this clinical
Bacterial vs. Mammalian Expression Systems
Expressing recombinant antibodies can be done in all kinds of systems. Many different cell lines can be used for expressing antibodies, including mammalian cells like HEK293 or CHO, or even yeast, plant or insect cell lines. Each expression system has
October 2016: The Antibody Update
The Nobel Prize in Medicine was Awarded to Yoshinori Ohsumi for His Work on Autophagy Autophagy is the cellular process that regulates a cells ability to degrade parts of itself that must be replaced. Yoshinori Ohsumi’s work in autophagy has proven to
Antibody Basics: Recombinant Antibodies
Antibody development works much like any engineering feat; you get out what you put in. With the shotgun approach to developing polyclonal antibodies, hitting the target usually isn’t too much of a problem, but the immune response can be nonspecific.