Amplifying Immune Responses: Microparticulate Vaccine Approach Against Breast Cancer

Michelle Marie Ubowski,1 Ryan VanSice,1 Morgan Marriott,1 Matthew J Yacobucci,2 Lipika Chablani1 1Wegmans School of Pharmacy, St. John Fisher University, Rochester, NY, 14618, USA; 2Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Albany, NY, 12208, USACorrespondence: Lipika Chablani, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wegmans School of Pharmacy, St. John Fisher University, 3690 East Ave, Rochester, NY, 14618, USA, Tel +1-585-899-3714, Fax +1-585-899-8453, Email [email protected]: The study focuses on evaluating the immune responses generated by a novel microparticulate murine breast cancer vaccine.Methods: The methodology included the use of a co-culture model of dendritic cells (DCs), and T-cells to evaluate the immunotherapeutic responses generated by the vaccine.Results: The study observed that the dendritic cells expressed significantly higher levels of MHC I, MHC II, CD 40, and CD 80 cell surface markers in the presence of the vaccine microparticles than the controls (p< 0.05). This response was potentiated in the presence of an adjuvant, Poly (I:C). The study also demonstrated that the vaccine microparticles do not elicit inflammatory (TNF-alpha, IFN-gamma, IL-2, and IL-12) or immunosuppressive (IL-10) cytokine production when compared to the control.Discussion: In conclusion, the study established the role of DCs in stimulating the cancer vaccine’s adaptive immune responses.Keywords: dendritic cells, adjuvants, poly I:C, adaptive immune response, vaccine formulatio

Self organising maps for visualising and modelling

The paper describes the motivation of SOMs (Self Organising Maps) and how they are generally more accessible due to the wider available modern, more powerful, cost-effective computers. Their advantages compared to Principal Components Analysis and Partial Least Squares are discussed. These allow application to non-linear data, are not so dependent on least squares solutions, normality of errors and less influenced by outliers. In addition there are a wide variety of intuitive methods for visualisation that allow full use of the map space. Modern problems in analytical chemistry include applications to cultural heritage studies, environmental, metabolomic and biological problems result in complex datasets. Methods for visualising maps are described including best matching units, hit histograms, unified distance matrices and component planes. Supervised SOMs for classification including multifactor data and variable selection are discussed as is their use in Quality Control. The paper is illustrated using four case studies, namely the Near Infrared of food, the thermal analysis of polymers, metabolomic analysis of saliva using NMR, and on-line HPLC for pharmaceutical process monitoring

Ammonoid Intraspecific Variability

Because ammonoids have never been observed swimming, there is no alternative to seeking indirect indications of the locomotory abilities of ammonoids. This approach is based on actualistic comparisons with the closest relatives of ammonoids, the Coleoidea and the Nautilida, and on the geometrical and physical properties of the shell. Anatomical comparison yields information on the locomotor muscular systems and organs as well as possible modes of propulsion while the shape and physics of ammonoid shells provide information on buoyancy, shell orientation, drag, added mass, cost of transportation and thus on limits of acceleration and swimming speed. On these grounds, we conclude that ammonoid swimming is comparable to that of Recent nautilids and sepiids in terms of speed and energy consumption, although some ammonoids might have been slower swimmers than nautilids