Antigen-Specific T Cells: A Discovery Tool for Developing Immunomodulatory Therapeutics
Cell-based immunotherapies have transformed the oncology and virology landscape. Whether the treatment is CAR-T cells, vaccine development, checkpoint inhibitors, or adoptive T cell therapy, the mechanism of action includes T cell lysis of affected cells. Assays designed at measuring the ability of T cells to kill the target cells are important tools to understand the potency of such treatments.
Antigen-specific T cells (ASTCs) have long been used as tools in various stages of basic and clinical research, including early-stage research and discovery. ASTCs are used to study cancer-intrinsic evasion of cytotoxic T cells and assess tumor-specific cytotoxicity in response to antigen modification. ASTCs are also used to evaluate immunomodulatory activity to novel molecules and examine cytotoxic response after microfluidic delivery of antigen to less conventional antigen-presenting cells. These applications require sufficient quantities of T cells that retain their functions and specificity.
This webinar presents the utility of ASTCs in the discovery of immunomodulatory agents for cell therapies, including how we design T cell lines specific for common tumor and viral antigens and understand their cytotoxic capability.
Learn about:
- The diverse utility of ASTCs when developing and optimizing cell-based immune therapies
- Characterizing immune cell-based targets and applying functional assays using ASTCs
- Addressing challenges like donor variability when designing ASTCs
About the Speakers
Presenter: Arif Azam Khan, PhD
Senior Scientist Lead, Charles River
Arif has extensive research experience in human T and B cell immunobiology for target identification and preclinical exploratory studies. In Arif's current role, he is actively involved in the development of antigen-specific T cells and specialized immune cells for research in immuno-oncology, autoimmunity, cell-based therapy, and infectious disease.
Moderator: Sarah Hiddleston
Science Journalist, Nature Research Custom Media
Sarah is a freelance journalist working with Nature Research Custom Media since 2015. Previously, Sarah worked for a decade in Madras (Chennai), India, specializing in health, pharmaceutical, and environmetal stories. Sarah holds an MA in Investigative Journalism from City University London, an MSc in Political Theory from the London School of Economics, and an undergraduate degree in History from the University of Cambridge, UK.