40 research outputs found
Getting It Right: Being Smarter about Clinical Trials
A major NIH meeting led to recommendations for conducting better clinical trials
Creation of an NCI comparative brain tumor consortium: informing the translation of new knowledge from canine to human brain tumor patients
On September 14â15, 2015, a meeting of clinicians and investigators in the fields of veterinary and human neuro-oncology, clinical trials, neuropathology, and drug development was convened at the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda, Maryland. This meeting served as the inaugural event launching a new consortium focused on improving the knowledge, development of, and access to naturally occurring canine brain cancer, specifically glioma, as a model for human disease. Within the meeting, a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) assessment was undertaken to critically evaluate the role that naturally occurring canine brain tumors could have in advancing this aspect of comparative oncology aimed at improving outcomes for dogs and human beings. A summary of this meeting and subsequent discussion are provided to inform the scientific and clinical community of the potential for this initiative. Canine and human comparisons represent an unprecedented opportunity to complement conventional brain tumor research paradigms, addressing a devastating disease for which innovative diagnostic and treatment strategies are clearly needed
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Disorientating, fun or meaningful? Disadvantaged families' experiences of a science museum visit
It is widely agreed that there is a need to increase and widen science partici- pation. Informal science learning environments (ISLEs), such as science museums, may provide valuable spaces within which to engage visitorsâyet the visitor profile of science museums remains narrow. This paper seeks to understand the experiences of socially disadvantaged families within such spaces. Using a Bourdieusian analytic lens, we analyse qualitative data from a small study conducted with ten parents and ten children from an urban school who visited a large science museum. Data includes pre- and post-interviews, audio recordings and visit fieldnotes. We characterised familiesâ experiences as falling into three discourses, as âdisorientatingâ, âfunâ or âmeaningfulâ visits. Analysis identifies how the familiesâ experiences, and the likelihood of deriving science learning from the visit, were shaped through interactions of habitus and capital. Implications for improving equity and inclusion within ISLEs are discussed
The consequences of a year of the COVID-19 pandemic for the mental health of young adult twins in England and Wales
Background The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all our lives, not only through the infection itself but also through the measures taken to control the spread of the virus (e.g. lockdown). Aims Here, we investigated how the COVID-19 pandemic and unprecedented lockdown affected the mental health of young adults in England and Wales. Method We compared the mental health symptoms of up to 4773 twins in their mid-20s in 2018 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (T1) and during four-wave longitudinal data collection during the pandemic in April, July and October 2020, and in March 2021 (T2-T5) using phenotypic and genetic longitudinal designs. Results The average changes in mental health were small to medium and mainly occurred from T1 to T2 (average Cohen d = 0.14). Despite the expectation of catastrophic effects of the pandemic on mental health, we did not observe trends in worsening mental health during the pandemic (T3-T5). Young people with pre-existing mental health problems were disproportionately affected at the beginning of the pandemic, but their increased problems largely subsided as the pandemic persisted. Twin analyses indicated that the aetiology of individual differences in mental health symptoms did not change during the lockdown (average heritability 33%); the average genetic correlation between T1 and T2-T5 was 0.95, indicating that genetic effects before the pandemic were substantially correlated with genetic effects up to a year later. Conclusions We conclude that on average the mental health of young adults in England and Wales has been remarkably resilient to the effects of the pandemic and associated lockdown
Cabozantinib for neurofibromatosis type 1-related plexiform neurofibromas: a phase 2 trial
Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) plexiform neurofibromas (PNs) are progressive, multicellular neoplasms that cause morbidity and may transform to sarcoma. Treatment of Nf1fl/fl;Postn-Cre mice with cabozantinib, an inhibitor of multiple tyrosine kinases, caused a reduction in PN size and number and differential modulation of kinases in cell lineages that drive PN growth. Based on these findings, the Neurofibromatosis Clinical Trials Consortium conducted a phase II, open-label, nonrandomized Simon two-stage study to assess the safety, efficacy and biologic activity of cabozantinib in patients â„16 years of age with NF1 and progressive or symptomatic, inoperable PN ( NCT02101736 ). The trial met its primary outcome, defined as â„25% of patients achieving a partial response (PR, defined as â„20% reduction in target lesion volume as assessed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)) after 12 cycles of therapy. Secondary outcomes included adverse events (AEs), patient-reported outcomes (PROs) assessing pain and quality of life (QOL), pharmacokinetics (PK) and the levels of circulating endothelial cells and cytokines. Eight of 19 evaluable (42%) trial participants achieved a PR. The median change in tumor volume was 15.2% (range, +2.2% to -36.9%), and no patients had disease progression while on treatment. Nine patients required dose reduction or discontinuation of therapy due to AEs; common AEs included gastrointestinal toxicity, hypothyroidism, fatigue and palmar plantar erythrodysesthesia. A total of 11 grade 3 AEs occurred in eight patients. Patients with PR had a significant reduction in tumor pain intensity and pain interference in daily life but no change in global QOL scores. These data indicate that cabozantinib is active in NF1-associated PN, resulting in tumor volume reduction and pain improvement
SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity are associated with genetic variants affecting gene expression in a variety of tissues
Variability in SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility and COVID-19 disease severity between individuals is partly due to
genetic factors. Here, we identify 4 genomic loci with suggestive associations for SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility
and 19 for COVID-19 disease severity. Four of these 23 loci likely have an ethnicity-specific component.
Genome-wide association study (GWAS) signals in 11 loci colocalize with expression quantitative trait loci
(eQTLs) associated with the expression of 20 genes in 62 tissues/cell types (range: 1:43 tissues/gene),
including lung, brain, heart, muscle, and skin as well as the digestive system and immune system. We perform
genetic fine mapping to compute 99% credible SNP sets, which identify 10 GWAS loci that have eight or fewer
SNPs in the credible set, including three loci with one single likely causal SNP. Our study suggests that the
diverse symptoms and disease severity of COVID-19 observed between individuals is associated with variants across the genome, affecting gene expression levels in a wide variety of tissue types
NIST Interlaboratory Study on Glycosylation Analysis of Monoclonal Antibodies: Comparison of Results from Diverse Analytical Methods
Glycosylation is a topic of intense current interest in the
development of biopharmaceuticals because it is related
to drug safety and efficacy. This work describes results of
an interlaboratory study on the glycosylation of the Primary
Sample (PS) of NISTmAb, a monoclonal antibody
reference material. Seventy-six laboratories from industry,
university, research, government, and hospital sectors
in Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia submit-
Avenue, Silver Spring, Maryland 20993; 22Glycoscience Research Laboratory, Genos, Borongajska cesta 83h, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia;
23Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Zagreb, A. KovacË icÂŽ a 1, 10 000 Zagreb, Croatia; 24Department of Chemistry, Georgia
State University, 100 Piedmont Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30303; 25glyXera GmbH, Brenneckestrasse 20 * ZENIT / 39120 Magdeburg, Germany;
26Health Products and Foods Branch, Health Canada, AL 2201E, 251 Sir Frederick Banting Driveway, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0K9 Canada;
27Graduate School of Advanced Sciences of Matter, Hiroshima University, 1-3-1 Kagamiyama Higashi-Hiroshima 739â8530 Japan; 28ImmunoGen,
830 Winter Street, Waltham, Massachusetts 02451; 29Department of Medical Physiology, Jagiellonian University Medical College,
ul. Michalowskiego 12, 31â126 Krakow, Poland; 30Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University, 400 N. Broadway Street Baltimore,
Maryland 21287; 31Mass Spec Core Facility, KBI Biopharma, 1101 Hamlin Road Durham, North Carolina 27704; 32Division of Mass
Spectrometry, Korea Basic Science Institute, 162 YeonGuDanji-Ro, Ochang-eup, Cheongwon-gu, Cheongju Chungbuk, 363â883 Korea
(South); 33Advanced Therapy Products Research Division, Korea National Institute of Food and Drug Safety, 187 Osongsaengmyeong 2-ro
Osong-eup, Heungdeok-gu, Cheongju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do, 363â700, Korea (South); 34Center for Proteomics and Metabolomics, Leiden
University Medical Center, P.O. Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands; 35Ludger Limited, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon,
Oxfordshire, OX14 3EB, United Kingdom; 36Biomolecular Discovery and Design Research Centre and ARC Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale
BioPhotonics (CNBP), Macquarie University, North Ryde, Australia; 37Proteomics, Central European Institute for Technology, Masaryk
University, Kamenice 5, A26, 625 00 BRNO, Czech Republic; 38Max Planck Institute for Dynamics of Complex Technical Systems, Sandtorstrasse
1, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany; 39Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, 14424
Potsdam, Germany; 40AstraZeneca, Granta Park, Cambridgeshire, CB21 6GH United Kingdom; 41Merck, 2015 Galloping Hill Rd, Kenilworth,
New Jersey 07033; 42Analytical R&D, MilliporeSigma, 2909 Laclede Ave. St. Louis, Missouri 63103; 43MS Bioworks, LLC, 3950 Varsity Drive
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108; 44MSD, Molenstraat 110, 5342 CC Oss, The Netherlands; 45Exploratory Research Center on Life and Living
Systems (ExCELLS), National Institutes of Natural Sciences, 5â1 Higashiyama, Myodaiji, Okazaki 444â8787 Japan; 46Graduate School of
Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nagoya City University, 3â1 Tanabe-dori, Mizuhoku, Nagoya 467â8603 Japan; 47Medical & Biological Laboratories
Co., Ltd, 2-22-8 Chikusa, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464â0858 Japan; 48National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, Blanche Lane, South
Mimms, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire EN6 3QG United Kingdom; 49Division of Biological Chemistry & Biologicals, National Institute of Health
Sciences, 1-18-1 Kamiyoga, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 158â8501 Japan; 50New England Biolabs, Inc., 240 County Road, Ipswich, Massachusetts
01938; 51New York University, 100 Washington Square East New York City, New York 10003; 52Target Discovery Institute, Nuffield Department
of Medicine, University of Oxford, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford, OX3 7FZ, United Kingdom; 53GlycoScience Group, The National Institute for
Bioprocessing Research and Training, Fosters Avenue, Mount Merrion, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland; 54Department of Chemistry, North
Carolina State University, 2620 Yarborough Drive Raleigh, North Carolina 27695; 55Pantheon, 201 College Road East Princeton, New Jersey
08540; 56Pfizer Inc., 1 Burtt Road Andover, Massachusetts 01810; 57Proteodynamics, ZI La Varenne 20â22 rue Henri et Gilberte Goudier 63200
RIOM, France; 58ProZyme, Inc., 3832 Bay Center Place Hayward, California 94545; 59Koichi Tanaka Mass Spectrometry Research Laboratory,
Shimadzu Corporation, 1 Nishinokyo Kuwabara-cho Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto, 604 8511 Japan; 60Childrenâs GMP LLC, St. Jude Childrenâs
Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place Memphis, Tennessee 38105; 61Sumitomo Bakelite Co., Ltd., 1â5 Muromati 1-Chome, Nishiku,
Kobe, 651â2241 Japan; 62Synthon Biopharmaceuticals, Microweg 22 P.O. Box 7071, 6503 GN Nijmegen, The Netherlands; 63Takeda
Pharmaceuticals International Co., 40 Landsdowne Street Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139; 64Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry,
Texas Tech University, 2500 Broadway, Lubbock, Texas 79409; 65Thermo Fisher Scientific, 1214 Oakmead Parkway Sunnyvale, California
94085; 66United States Pharmacopeia India Pvt. Ltd. IKP Knowledge Park, Genome Valley, Shamirpet, Turkapally Village, Medchal District,
Hyderabad 500 101 Telangana, India; 67Alberta Glycomics Centre, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2G2 Canada; 68Department
of Chemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2G2 Canada; 69Department of Chemistry, University of California, One Shields Ave,
Davis, California 95616; 70HorvaÂŽ th Csaba Memorial Laboratory for Bioseparation Sciences, Research Center for Molecular Medicine, Doctoral
School of Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Egyetem ter 1, Hungary; 71Translational Glycomics
Research Group, Research Institute of Biomolecular and Chemical Engineering, University of Pannonia, Veszprem, Egyetem ut 10, Hungary;
72Delaware Biotechnology Institute, University of Delaware, 15 Innovation Way Newark, Delaware 19711; 73Proteomics Core Facility, University
of Gothenburg, Medicinaregatan 1G SE 41390 Gothenburg, Sweden; 74Department of Medical Biochemistry and Cell Biology, University of
Gothenburg, Institute of Biomedicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, Medicinaregatan 9A, Box 440, 405 30, Gothenburg, Sweden; 75Department of
Clinical Chemistry and Transfusion Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Bruna Straket 16, 41345 Gothenburg,
Sweden; 76Department of Chemistry, University of Hamburg, Martin Luther King Pl. 6 20146 Hamburg, Germany; 77Department of Chemistry,
University of Manitoba, 144 Dysart Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3T 2N2; 78Laboratory of Mass Spectrometry of Interactions and
Systems, University of Strasbourg, UMR Unistra-CNRS 7140, France; 79Natural and Medical Sciences Institute, University of Tuš bingen,
Markwiesenstrae 55, 72770 Reutlingen, Germany; 80Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research and Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical
Sciences, Utrecht University, Padualaan 8, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands; 81Division of Bioanalytical Chemistry, Amsterdam Institute for
Molecules, Medicines and Systems, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, de Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands; 82Department
of Chemistry, Waters Corporation, 34 Maple Street Milford, Massachusetts 01757; 83Zoetis, 333 Portage St. Kalamazoo, Michigan 49007
Authorâs ChoiceâFinal version open access under the terms of the Creative Commons CC-BY license.
Received July 24, 2019, and in revised form, August 26, 2019
Published, MCP Papers in Press, October 7, 2019, DOI 10.1074/mcp.RA119.001677
ER: NISTmAb Glycosylation Interlaboratory Study
12 Molecular & Cellular Proteomics 19.1
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ted a total of 103 reports on glycan distributions. The
principal objective of this study was to report and compare
results for the full range of analytical methods presently
used in the glycosylation analysis of mAbs. Therefore,
participation was unrestricted, with laboratories
choosing their own measurement techniques. Protein glycosylation
was determined in various ways, including at
the level of intact mAb, protein fragments, glycopeptides,
or released glycans, using a wide variety of methods for
derivatization, separation, identification, and quantification.
Consequently, the diversity of results was enormous,
with the number of glycan compositions identified by
each laboratory ranging from 4 to 48. In total, one hundred
sixteen glycan compositions were reported, of which 57
compositions could be assigned consensus abundance
values. These consensus medians provide communityderived
values for NISTmAb PS. Agreement with the consensus
medians did not depend on the specific method or
laboratory type. The study provides a view of the current
state-of-the-art for biologic glycosylation measurement
and suggests a clear need for harmonization of glycosylation
analysis methods. Molecular & Cellular Proteomics
19: 11â30, 2020. DOI: 10.1074/mcp.RA119.001677.L
Genomic epidemiology of SARS-CoV-2 in a UK university identifies dynamics of transmission
AbstractUnderstanding SARS-CoV-2 transmission in higher education settings is important to limit spread between students, and into at-risk populations. In this study, we sequenced 482 SARS-CoV-2 isolates from the University of Cambridge from 5 October to 6 December 2020. We perform a detailed phylogenetic comparison with 972 isolates from the surrounding community, complemented with epidemiological and contact tracing data, to determine transmission dynamics. We observe limited viral introductions into the university; the majority of student cases were linked to a single genetic cluster, likely following social gatherings at a venue outside the university. We identify considerable onward transmission associated with student accommodation and courses; this was effectively contained using local infection control measures and following a national lockdown. Transmission clusters were largely segregated within the university or the community. Our study highlights key determinants of SARS-CoV-2 transmission and effective interventions in a higher education setting that will inform public health policy during pandemics.</jats:p