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Highlights from Our Discoveries in 2024: A Review of Scientific Posters
Highlights from Our Discoveries in 2024: A Review of Scientific Posters
Article from 2024-07-10
Our scientists showcased their research findings during the vibrant spring 2024 conference season, providing an invaluable opportunity to exchange ideas and establish new collaborations with the broader scientific community.
Explore the products and services from Cayman that supported our findings and discover how these tools can help make your research possible.
Research tools that helped make these discoveries possible:
Lipid Nanoparticles
Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are revolutionary platforms for the targeted delivery of nucleic acid therapies. LNPs have significant advantages over traditional delivery methods, offering increased drug stability, improved delivery, and targeted distribution. Featured Resources: LipidLaunch™ Research Tools for LNP Discovery | ||
Enhancing Transfection Efficiency of Primary Immune Cells Through Lipid Nanoparticle-mediated Delivery
This study evaluated the potential of preformed, lyophilized, and ready-to-load lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) in transfecting primary cell cultures. Transfection efficiency and immunogenicity of LNPs were assessed by monitoring the expression of GFP/mCherry mRNA cargo and by measuring cytokine levels using plate-based methods, respectively. Transfection of human monocyte-derived macrophages with SM-102- containing particles express GFP within 4 hours and peak by 16 hours with greater than 50% transfection efficiency.
| Key Finding: Transfection of primary immune cells with LNPs is efficient, non-toxic, and maintains immunogenicity. |
Modulation of ENPP1 Activity and 2'3'-cGAMP Degradation in Ovarian Cancer Cell Lines via Loadable Preformed Lipid Nanoparticles
In this study, we used preformed LNPs to modulate ENPP1 activity and STING activation in ovarian cancer cell lines and THP-1 macrophages, respectively. ENPP1 activity was detected in PA-1, Caov-3, and SKOV3 cell lines, and preformed loadable SM-102 LNPs facilitated effective siRNA-mediated ENPP1 knockdown in all three cell lines.
| Key Finding: Preformed loadable SM-102 LNPs enabled effective delivery of nucleic acid cargo to ovarian cancer and macrophage cell lines to modulate ENPP1 activity and STING activation. |
Apolipoprotein E: Purification, Characterization, and Lipid Nanoparticle Uptake Enhancement
”Recent studies have revealed the essential role of ApoE in facilitating the cellular internalization of LNPs, providing a potential avenue for targeted drug delivery and therapeutic interventions. Herein, we show that Cayman-produced LNP uptake is enhanced by addition of exogenous ApoE in a cell-based assay with lung epithelial cells.
| Key Finding: Cayman’s recombinant ApoEs aid in the uptake of LNPs. |
Lipid Analysis & Biochemistry
Lipids play critical roles in cell biology, physiology, and metabolism. Comprehensive analysis of lipid profiles is a uniquely valuable tool for detecting biologically relevant lipids. Commercially available standards are an essential component of workflows for untargeted lipidomics and targeted lipids analysis. Featured Resources: Octadecanoid Analytical Standards | ||
Synthesis and Characterization of New Octadecanoid Standards
Octadecanoids are 18-carbon oxylipins derived from linoleic or linolenic acids, and they are increasingly recognized as having important effects in biological responses. This study shows the synthesis and characterization of twelve new standards for epoxy-octadecadienoic acids (EpODEs) and dihydroxy-octadecadienoic acids (DiHODEs) derived from α-linolenic acid (ALA) and γ-linolenic acid (GLA), which expand the availability of biochemical tools to further investigate the biological roles of octadecanoids.
| Key Finding: Twelve new oxylipin standards derived from ALA and GLA have been synthesized, purified, and characterized by LC-MS/MS and NMR. |
Immunopeptidome Profiling
Immunopeptidomics profiles potentially immunogenic peptides presented to the immune system by major histocompatibility complexes (MHC). This technique allows for the identification of neoantigens presented by immune cells and is essential to developing targeted therapies in multiple pathologies, from biologics for chronic administration in autoimmune conditions to personalized cancer vaccines. Featured Resource: |
Improved Identification of Allele-specific MHC class II Immunopeptidome
We have developed a workflow to improve the experimental identification of allele-specific MHC class II-associated peptides by biotinylating the α chain of HLA-DR in live cells. Supply of exogenous biotin ensured the specific biotinylation of MHC, which was then enriched from lysates using either streptavidin or HLA-DR-specific antibody. Peptides were eluted from these complexes and identified by mass spec. This procedure successfully captured all HLA-DR expressed by the cells and peptides identified by the traditional immunoaffinity approach were compared with the biotinylation approach.
| Key Finding: In cellulo biotinylation can be utilized to enrich MHC class II for immunopeptidomic studies. |
Hit Identification & Drug Discovery
Hit identification and drug discovery pulls expertise across scientific disciplines to identify compounds that interact with the target of interest and have desired chemical and biological properties. Featured Resources: FDA-Approved Drugs Screening Library | ||
Calcium-dependent Hit Identification for PAD4 Inhibitors with FDA-approved and Fragment-based Library Approaches
In this high-throughput screening (HTS) program, we ran screens under two different conditions in order to assess the calcium sensitivity of PAD4 inhibitor fragments and compounds. The resultant assays maintained requirements for high-throughput screening in a 384-well format (Z' > 0.5) and in comparison allowed for identification of calcium-sensitive and -insensitive compounds for further development.
| Key Finding: Through optimization of assay conditions, both fragment-based and small molecule library screening approaches identified calcium-dependent PAD4 inhibitors for immunomodulator development. |
Fragment-Based Drug Discovery (FBDD) Approach for Acetylcholinesterase
Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is an enzyme that has been identified in Alzheimer's disease. Design of small molecule AChE inhibitors has been successful but with limited clinical benefits due to extensive side effects. In this study, we followed a fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) screening approach to provide insight into designing small molecule inhibitors directly targeting AChE.
| Key Finding: A biophysical approach to finding hits in FBDD. |
| VIEW ALL SCIENTIFIC POSTERS |
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