Fluorescence polarization assays (FPAs) are a powerful tool for measuring molecular interactions in solution. This video explores the principles behind this technique, its applications in biochemical assays, and its significance in life science research. We discuss advantages and limitations of FPAs, demonstrate a software setup and running of an example assay, and explain how calculations are performed. We conclude with the available fluorescence polarization resources available on bpsbioscience.com.
The immune system plays a large role in a body’s fight against cancer, but tumors can avoid the immune response. Scientists work to restore anti-cancer immune activity by augmenting existing immune mechanisms and circumventing tumor immune-evasion strategies. In this virtual symposium, an expert panel will examine immunotherapies and other immune-supporting strategies that help prevent, control, and eliminate cancer.
Optimization and Functional Characterization of CAR T and CAR NK Cells
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell and natural killer (NK) cell therapy holds tremendous promise as a viable therapeutic option, but it also raises concerns and uncertainty when meeting the desired patient outcome and safety. Hence, robust functional and analytical characterization at every stage of CAR T/NK cell development is needed to quantify the composition, potency, and safety of these therapies. Such detailed characterization done in vitro and in vivo can help monitor and predict their behavior downstream. This webinar brings together a group of post-doctoral fellows from labs that are developing and using new tools and assays that can reliably and efficiently help characterize CAR T and NK cells.
In this seminar, Drs. Dawn Bowles, Samira Kiani, and David Schaffer will discuss the challenges of developing gene therapies and novel strategies to make AAV gene therapies safer and more effective. The scientists address: gene therapies to improve cardiac transplant outcomes and minimize the need for immunosuppression, new immunoregulatory strategies to address immune responses to gene therapies and enhancing viral gene delivery and manufacturing using directed evolution and genetic selection.
Cancer Immunotherapy: where will the future opportunities be?
Cell therapies are an important treatment approach in immuno-oncology. They have tremendous potential in treating disease but face their own unique challenges in development and production. In this webinar, five speakers in the research and development space discuss key development points for the field and hurdles that are being addressed to develop better tools for production and qualification of these therapies. They also discuss potential next phases of cancer immunotherapy, the long-term opportunities, and the challenges that lie ahead. Featured is our very own, Veronique Baron, Scientific Applications Manager, who presents on the tools that BPS Bioscience provides to enable cell therapy research.
RNA editing catalyzed by adenosine deaminases acting on RNA (ADARs) occurs naturally at thousands of sites across the human transcriptome. This process profoundly affects gene expression and influences a wide range of human diseases from cancer to neurological disorders. In this webinar, Michael Breen discusses the role of ADAR-mediated RNA editing in neurodevelopmental disorders and how his team develops site-directed RNA editing therapeutics. He talks about studying RNA editing using transcriptome data and reporter assays and characterizing RNA editing across human brain regions, cell types, and brain development. Lastly, he introduces some concepts on using RNA editing as a therapeutic tool to correct diseases.
Targeted cancer therapy: choosing the right assay to assess PARP inhibitors
Poly-ADP Ribose Polymerase(PARP) is a family of 17 proteins involved in a wide range of biological functions: repair of DNA damage, genome stability, chromatin remodeling, mitotic spindle assembly, regulation of RNA turnover and of gene expression, and DNA methylation. PARP enzymes catalyze the ADP-ribosylation of proteins. PARP1 and PARP2 are mostly involved in DNA repair, and it has been shown that PARP1/2 inhibitors specifically kill tumor cells in which another DNA repair pathway is not functional due to a genetic mutation or to concomitant inhibition. Whether studying PARP enzymatic activity, PARP1/2 trapping to DNA, or looking to eliminate the protein using a molecular glue, it is critical to understand the principles behind each type of assay and the advantages or drawbacks of various assay formats.
Targeted Protein Degradation Using PROTACs and Glues
There is growing interest in understanding how proteolysis-targeting chimeric molecules (PROTACs) and molecular glues can effectively degrade proteins that are important targets for drug discovery and therapeutic intervention. This Bench Tips webinar brings together scientists to share their expertise using various biochemical, cell-based and computational techniques to find the right degraders for the drug targets to enable their targeted degradation. In this webinar, you will hear about: 1) how to rationally design PROTAC degraders and molecular glues, 2) how to pick the right techniques for structural and mechanistic studies, 3) which biochemical and cell-based assays to use for measuring degradation, and 4) what are some of the common challenges—from sample prep to data analysis.
Reverse engineering the human heart with pluripotent stem cells
Recent advances in stem cell technologies, synthetic development and organoid biology are enabling us to create more accurate in vitro models of human organs. Here we will discuss methods to generate developmentally relevant human heart organoids by self-organization strategies using human pluripotent stem cells. Our procedure is fully defined, efficient, reproducible, and compatible with high-content approaches. These organoids develop sophisticated internal chambers with well-organized multi-lineage cardiac cell types, recapitulate heart field formation, atrioventricular specification, develop a complex vasculature, anterio-posterior heart patterning, and exhibit robust functional activity. We also show that our organoid platform can recreate complex metabolic disorders associated with congenital heart defects.
Presented by Dr. Aguirre, Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering Chief, Division of Developmental and Stem Cell Biology Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering (IQ) Co-Director MSU Stem Cell Core Facility, Michigan State University
Advances and Challenges in Targeting Kinases in Cancer Therapeutics
Tyrosine kinases, composed of a diverse family of enzymes, are of considerable clinical interest because of their direct roles in the development of cancer. In this webinar, Dr. Aishath of the Dana Farber Institute at Harvard discusses the mechanisms and challenges of targeting BTK in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Dr. Baron of BPS Bioscience presents on tools to study kinases, including biochemical assays, lentiviruses, and off-the-shelf cell-based reporter systems.
Using Luciferase Reporter Cell Lines for High Throughput Screening Readouts
Reporter cell lines are critical tools that serve as models for tissue types or disease states, engineered to express a reporter protein, such as luciferase, upon exogenous stimulation. Using reporter cell lines provides a convenient and simple readout to screen for inhibitors of protein signaling or activation. This video reviews the uses and advantages of reporter cell lines in the context of cellular research.
Natural Killer (NK) cells are essential in innate immunity, detecting and destroying abnormal cells. The recent success of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy has brought the possibility of engineering NK cells as novel immune therapeutic. In this webinar, Dean A. Lee discusses the advantages of CAR NK cell therapy and the latest developments in their clinical utility.
In order to evaluate drug candidates, researchers need a clear understanding of the activity of the molecules of interest at a cellular level. Our 200+ cell lines, primary cells, iPSC-derived cells, and cell-based assay kits provide robust cellular systems for testing and verification. These cell products are complemented by our media reagents, including thaw, growth, assay, and freezing media optimized to each cell type, which together with our convenient luciferase detection systems, yield complete cell systems for research.
Proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) are small molecules capable of targeting disease-relevant proteins for degradation by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. The ability to target and destroy a specific protein-of-interest (POI) have made protein degrader molecules promising candidates for developing novel anticancer therapeutics. In this webinar brought to you by BPS Bioscience, Amar Natarajan and Guangrong Zheng will discuss the development and applications of PROTACs for cancer therapy.
BPS Bioscience – Innovating the Future of Drug Discovery
BPS Bioscience’s purpose is to advance new scientific discoveries that lead to therapies, by creating innovative solutions for research. Our focus areas are immunotherapy, epigenetics, coronavirus, CRISPR, cell signaling, and others, providing 4000+ high quality recombinant cell lines, lentiviruses, proteins and all aspects of biochemical and cell-based assay development. As a primary manufacturer, we can supply products in large-scale bulk quantities, as well as contract and custom manufacturing. Our biochemical and cell-based screening services are also available to accelerate your research.
Understanding PROTACs-Mediated Target Protein Degradation
Proteolysis-targeting chimeric molecules (PROTACs) can effectively degrade proteins, such as those that are important targets for drug discovery or therapeutics. Understanding the details involved in designing, characterizing, and working with PROTACs will be critical to develop these as therapies. This Bench Tips webinar brings together a group of early-career scientists who are using various biochemical, cell-based, and computational techniques to find the right targets and PROTAC molecules for targeted degradation. Here, they share their knowledge and expertise in the preparation of cells and reagents, choosing the right assays and platforms, and other troubleshooting tips.
Engineered immune cells have demonstrated great efficacy in lymphoma but not in solid tumors. Two experts described recent advances in the development of CAR therapy for solid tumors: Tamara Laskowski, PhD, Scientific Project Director of the CAR NK Program, Adoptive Cell Therapy Platform at the MD Anderson Cancer Center discussed "Engineering off-the-shelf CAR immune cells“ and Maik Luu, PhD, Project Principal Investigator at the University Hospital Würzburg, presented her results on "Improving CAR T therapy efficacy with the gut microbiome".
To facilitate research in COVID-19, BPS has released a series of assay kits to measure the interaction between SARS-CoV-2 Spike and human ACE2, or to measure the enzymatic activity of key SARS-CoV-2 proteins. Assay kits to study wild-type or variant Spike proteins are available. Assay principles and available formats are illustrated in this video.
B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA), also known as tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 17 (TNFRSF17), is a target for B-cell lymphoma, leukemia, and multiple myeloma-specific therapies. BPS Bioscience has developed an array of tools to enable research on targeting BCMA, including bispecific antibodies, reporter cell lines, recombinant proteins, anti-BCMA CAR-T cells, inhibitor screening assay kits, and lentiviruses.
Designing new therapeutic strategies requires the generation of appropriate tools, which can use considerable time and resources. BPS Bioscience has generated a varied portfolio of validated immuno-oncology tools to support drug development efforts as well as basic research projects, allowing the scientific community to focus on critical questions. These tools include anti-BCMA antibodies for BCMA detection, BiTEs and TriTEs, BCMA cell lines with or without reporter genes, biochemical assays, and BCMA lentivirus. Thus, BPS supports researchers at all phases of drug discovery to accelerate the development of new treatments for human diseases.
Harnessing the Metabolism of Oncogenic Signaling for More Effective Anti-Cancer Therapy
This webinar will discuss the use of cutting-edge technologies, to track the metabolism of breast cancer tumors and preclinical models, for the identification of metabolic determinants that guide the response to anticancer therapies. In this context, it will assist with gaining insight into how the metabolism of a cancer cell, driven by oncogenic mutation in PIK3CA, affects its proliferation beyond a cell-autonomous manner and contributes to evading immune surveillance. In the longer term, this knowledge exposes weaknesses in the tumor’s armor and unveils more effective therapeutic strategies where the combination of dietary interventions and metabolic targets helps circumvent drug resistance, restores tumoral immune cell infiltration and slows down tumor growth.
Cell-based experiments are a cornerstone of life science projects, particularly in the pre-clinical research fields of target validation and drug discovery and development. The ability to manipulate the cell genome, induce the expression of a particular protein, or accurately and reproducibly quantify the activity of antibodies and small molecules using reporter systems has considerably accelerated the pace of scientific progress. In this respect, lentiviral vectors have become essential gene delivery tools as they stably infect a large variety of dividing or non-dividing cell types in a wide range of hosts, leading to high efficiency of transduction. Pseudotyped lentiviruses are not only versatile, they are also safe and need only BSL-2 as opposed to BSL-3 containment practices. BPS Bioscience offers a comprehensive—and growing—collection of lentivirus-based particles, cell lines, and reporter systems, including a substantial list of COVID-19 related research products and CRISPR/Cas9 cells.
T Cells: A New Hope for Lasting Protection Against SARS-CoV-2
Many immunologists are looking at T cells to understand the potential for lasting immunity to SARS-CoV-2. In this webinar from The Scientist, Alessandro Sette and Shane Crotty will present the latest findings in T cell function following SARS-CoV-2 infection and the implications for vaccine development and lasting immune memory. Topics to be covered:
CD4+ and CD8+ T cell recognition of SARS-CoV-2 sequences in unexposed individuals and potential cross-reactivity with common cold coronaviruses
Implications of the T cell response against SARS-CoV-2 for vaccine design and viral escape
How the nature of the acute immune response correlates with COVID-19 severity
Factors affecting COVID-19 immune response duration and memory
First Responders: SARS-CoV-2 and the Immune System
Angela Rasmussen and Ya-Chi Ho explore the positive and negative aspects of the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and discuss how this knowledge influences therapeutic benefits. The immune system fights SARS-CoV-2 infection, but it also causes serious clinical symptoms when it rages out of control. In this webinar, Angela Rasmussen and Ya-Chi Ho will discuss how the immune system reacts to SARS-CoV-2, whether these responses are beneficial or deleterious, and the mechanisms by which immune responses determine COVID-19 severity and patient outcomes. Topics to be covered
The nature of the host response to SARS-CoV-2
Understanding adaptive immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 using high-dimensional single-cell profiling
Putting the Brakes on SARS-CoV-2: Neutralizing Antibodies
Experts will discuss potential neutralizing antibodies currently under investigation for SARS-CoV-2 treatment. SARS-CoV-2 is characterized by its rapid spread and significant human-to-human transmission. With no approved vaccines or treatments yet available, researchers are exploring various medical interventions, including neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), to control the global COVID-19 pandemic. The SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) glycoprotein, which promotes entry into host cells, is the main target of neutralizing antibodies. In this webinar, a panel of researchers will discuss potential neutralizing antibodies currently under investigation for SARS-CoV-2 treatment. Topics to be covered
Human monoclonal antibodies for SARS-CoV-2
SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies for global access
A Ticking Time Bomb: Tracing the Origin and Spread of SARS-CoV-2
For years, virologists predicted that coronaviruses would jump from animals to humans, causing new diseases. Unfortunately, those fears have been realized and SARS-CoV-2 now spreads across the globe. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, research on the origins and spread of coronaviruses is taking center stage. In this webinar from The Scientist, coronavirus experts will describe how SARS-CoV-2 came to infect humans. Linda Saif will give a historical overview of SARS spillovers from animals to humans, and Neville Sanjana will describe recent work on a SARS-CoV-2 spike protein variant that increases human infectivity. Topics to be covered:
A historical overview of coronavirus spillovers from animals to humans
The Spike D614G mutation increases SARS-CoV-2 infection of multiple human cell types
BPS Bioscience's luciferase assay systems (both ONE-Step and Dual Luciferase) are sensitive, stable, and convenient reagents to use for quantification of luciferase signals.
