S180 is a murine Sarcoma cancer cell line. [1] It has been commonly used in cancer research due to its rapid growth and proliferation in mice. [2] The cell line was initially harvested from a soft tissue tumor in a Swiss mouse. [3]
Mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) is a milk-transmitted retrovirus like the HTL viruses, HI viruses, and BLV. It belongs to the genus Betaretrovirus. MMTV was formerly known as Bittner virus, and previously the "milk factor", referring to the extra-chromosomal vertical transmission of murine breast cancer by adoptive nursing, demonstrated in 1936, by John Joseph Bittner while working at the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine. Bittner established the theory that a cancerous agent, or "milk factor", could be transmitted by cancerous mothers to young mice from a virus in their mother's milk. The majority of mammary tumors in mice are caused by mouse mammary tumor virus.
The regulatory T cells (Tregs or Treg cells), formerly known as suppressor T cells, are a subpopulation of T cells that modulate the immune system, maintain tolerance to self-antigens, and prevent autoimmune disease. Treg cells are immunosuppressive and generally suppress or downregulate induction and proliferation of effector T cells. Treg cells express the biomarkers CD4, FOXP3, and CD25 and are thought to be derived from the same lineage as naïve CD4+ cells. Because effector T cells also express CD4 and CD25, Treg cells are very difficult to effectively discern from effector CD4+, making them difficult to study. Research has found that the cytokine transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) is essential for Treg cells to differentiate from naïve CD4+ cells and is important in maintaining Treg cell homeostasis.
Protein kinase B (PKB), also known as Akt, is the collective name of a set of three serine/threonine-specific protein kinases that play key roles in multiple cellular processes such as glucose metabolism, apoptosis, cell proliferation, transcription, and cell migration.
Ludwig Cancer Research is an international community of scientists focused on cancer research, with the goals of preventing and controlling cancer. It encompasses the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, an international non-profit organization founded in 1971 by philanthropist Daniel K. Ludwig. The Institute is headquartered in New York City, with a European office located in Zurich. In addition, six Ludwig Centers were established at leading US cancer research institutions. Together, the Institute and Centers are known as Ludwig Cancer Research.
Gammaretrovirus is a genus in the Retroviridae family. Example species are the murine leukemia virus and the feline leukemia virus. They cause various sarcomas, leukemias and immune deficiencies in mammals, reptiles and birds.
Monoclonal antibody therapy is a form of immunotherapy that uses monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to bind monospecifically to certain cells or proteins. The objective is that this treatment will stimulate the patient's immune system to attack those cells. Alternatively, in radioimmunotherapy a radioactive dose localizes a target cell line, delivering lethal chemical doses. Antibodies have been used to bind to molecules involved in T-cell regulation to remove inhibitory pathways that block T-cell responses. This is known as immune checkpoint therapy.
A transmissible cancer is a cancer cell or cluster of cancer cells that can be transferred between individuals without the involvement of an infectious agent, such as an oncovirus. Transmission of cancer between humans is rare. The evolution of transmissible cancer has occurred naturally in other animal species, but—similarly to human cancer transmission—is rare.
Xenotropic murine leukemia virus–related virus (XMRV) is a retrovirus which was first described in 2006 as an apparently novel human pathogen found in tissue samples from men with prostate cancer. Initial reports erroneously linked the virus to prostate cancer and later to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), leading to considerable interest in the scientific and patient communities, investigation of XMRV as a potential cause of multiple medical conditions, and public-health concerns about the safety of the donated blood supply.
Syndecan 1 is a protein which in humans is encoded by the SDC1 gene. The protein is a transmembrane heparan sulfate proteoglycan and is a member of the syndecan proteoglycan family. The syndecan-1 protein functions as an integral membrane protein and participates in cell proliferation, cell migration and cell-matrix interactions via its receptor for extracellular matrix proteins. Syndecan-1 is a sponge for growth factors and chemokines, with binding largely via heparan sulfate chains. The syndecans mediate cell binding, cell signaling, and cytoskeletal organization and syndecan receptors are required for internalization of the HIV-1 tat protein.
Serine/threonine-protein kinase PLK1, also known as polo-like kinase 1 (PLK-1) or serine/threonine-protein kinase 13 (STPK13), is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the PLK1 gene.
Programmed cell death 1 ligand 2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the PDCD1LG2 gene. PDCD1LG2 has also been designated as CD273. PDCD1LG2 is an immune checkpoint receptor ligand which plays a role in negative regulation of the adaptive immune response. PD-L2 is one of two known ligands for Programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1).
Zinc finger protein 366, also known as DC-SCRIPT, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ZNF366 gene. The ZNF366 gene was first identified in a DNA comparison study between 85 kb of Fugu rubripes sequence containing 17 genes with its homologous loci in the human draft genome.
microRNA 21 also known as hsa-mir-21 or miRNA21 is a mammalian microRNA that is encoded by the MIR21 gene.
The NSG mouse is a brand of immunodeficient laboratory mice, developed and marketed by Jackson Laboratory, which carries the strain NOD.Cg-Prkdcscid Il2rgtm1Wjl/SzJ. NSG branded mice are among the most immunodeficient described to date. NSG branded mice lack mature T cells, B cells, and natural killer (NK) cells. NSG branded mice are also deficient in multiple cytokine signaling pathways, and they have many defects in innate immunity. The compound immunodeficiencies in NSG branded mice permit the engraftment of a wide range of primary human cells, and enable sophisticated modeling of many areas of human biology and disease. NSG branded mice were developed in the laboratory of Dr. Leonard Shultz at Jackson Laboratory, which owns the NSG trade mark.
Racotumomab is a therapeutic cancer vaccine for the treatment of solid tumors that is currently under clinical development by Recombio, an international public-private consortium with the participation of the Center of Molecular Immunology at Havana, Cuba (CIM) and researchers from Buenos Aires University and National University of Quilmes in Argentina. It induces the patient's immune system to generate a response against a cancer-specific molecular target with the purpose of blocking tumor growth, slowing disease progression and ultimately increasing patient survival.
A cancer biomarker refers to a substance or process that is indicative of the presence of cancer in the body. A biomarker may be a molecule secreted by a tumor or a specific response of the body to the presence of cancer. Genetic, epigenetic, proteomic, glycomic, and imaging biomarkers can be used for cancer diagnosis, prognosis, and epidemiology. Ideally, such biomarkers can be assayed in non-invasively collected biofluids like blood or serum.
Patient derived xenografts (PDX) are models of cancer where the tissue or cells from a patient's tumor are implanted into an immunodeficient or humanized mouse. PDX models are used to create an environment that allows for the natural growth of cancer, its monitoring, and corresponding treatment evaluations for the original patient.
Immune checkpoints are regulators of the immune system. These pathways are crucial for self-tolerance, which prevents the immune system from attacking cells indiscriminately. However, some cancers can protect themselves from attack by stimulating immune checkpoint targets.
Axelopran is a drug which is under development by Theravance Biopharma and licensed to Glycyx for all indications. It acts as a peripherally acting μ-opioid receptor antagonist and also acts on κ-, and δ-opioid receptors, with similar affinity for the μ- and κ-opioid receptors and about an order of magnitude lower affinity for the δ-opioid receptor. Recent data suggests that μ-opioid antagonists have a direct effect on overall survival in patients with advanced cancer.
4T1 is a breast cancer cell line derived from the mammary gland tissue of a mouse BALB/c strain. 4T1 cells are epithelial and are resistant to 6-thioguanine. In preclinical research, 4T1 cells have been used to study breast cancer metastasis as they can metastasize to the lung, liver, lymph nodes, brain and bone. The cells are known to be highly aggressive in live tissues.