• Journal of Animal Reproduction and Biotechnology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.58-61
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• 2024

Three different dogs who had immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA) were treated for more than two weeks with blood transfusion in an animal clinic. Despite this treatment and hospitalization, there was no clinical improvement in clinical signs as well as complete blood cell count (CBC) including hematocrit (HCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP). All cases were then injected two or three times with allogeneic stem cells through an intravenous route for treatment. Upon administrating stem cells to the IMHA dogs, clinical conditions and the indexes of HCT and CRP were clinically improved within or close to normal ranges.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.67-74
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• 2023

Perioperative treatment with conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy for resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has proven clinical benefits in terms of achieving a higher overall survival (OS) rate. With its success in the palliative treatment of NSCLC, immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) has now become an essential component of treatment, even as neoadjuvant or adjuvant therapy in patients with operable NSCLC. Both pre- and post-surgery ICB applications have proven clinical efficacy in preventing disease recurrence. In addition, neoadjuvant ICB combined with cytotoxic chemotherapy has shown a significantly higher rate of pathologic regression of viable tumors compared with cytotoxic chemotherapy alone. To confirm this, an early signal of OS benefit has been shown in a selected population, with programmed death ligand 1 expression ≥50%. Furthermore, applying ICB both pre- and post-surgery enhances its clinical benefits, as is currently under evaluation in ongoing phase III trials. Simultaneously, as the number of available perioperative treatment options increases, the variables to be considered for making treatment decisions become more complex. Thus, the role of a multidisciplinary team-based treatment approach has not been fully emphasized. This review presents up-to-date pivotal data that lead to practical changes in managing resectable NSCLC. From the medical oncologist's perspective, it is time to dance with surgeons to decide on the sequence of systemic treatment, particularly the ICB-based approach, accompanying surgery for operable NSCLC.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.324-328
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• 2023

Excessive inflammation in the body causes immune cells to release cytokines that damage normal tissues and cells, leading to rheumatoid arthritis and sepsis. Pulsed magnetic field(PMF) stimulation has many applications in the treatment of neurological, muscular disorders and pain. Therefore, in this study, we aim to investigate the effect of PMF stimulation on the regulation of excessive inflammation in the overall immune system. Macrophages, a primary immune cell, and T cells, a secondary immune cell, were co-cultured in the insert wells under the same conditions, and then inflammation was artificially induced. The changes in inflammatory activity following PMF stimulation were measured by pH and IL-6 concentration. After inflammation induction, both cells became more acidic and increased IL-6 expression, but after PMF stimulation, we observed improved acidification of macrophages and T cells and decreased IL-6 expression. Our results showed that infected macrophages activated T cells and that the recovery of excessive inflammatory response regulation after PMF stimulation proceeded more rapidly in macrophages. Therefore, this study suggests that PMF has a positive anti-inflammatory effect on the overall immune system and thus has the potential to be used as a non-invasive therapy for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.139-147
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• 2012

Although adoptive T cell therapy (ACT) has become a promising immunotherapeutic regime for cancer treatment, its effectiveness has been hindered by several inherent shortcomings regarding safety and efficacy. During the past few decades, several strategies for enhancing the efficacy of ACT have been developed and introduced in clinic. This review will summarize not only the past approaches but also the latest strategies which have been shown to enhance the anticancer activity of ACT.

• BMB Reports
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.2-11
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• 2024

Advancements in gene and cell therapy have resulted in novel therapeutics for diseases previously considered incurable or challenging to treat. Among the various contributing technologies, genome editing stands out as one of the most crucial for the progress in gene and cell therapy. The discovery of CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) and the subsequent evolution of genetic engineering technology have markedly expanded the field of target-specific gene editing. Originally studied in the immune systems of bacteria and archaea, the CRISPR system has demonstrated wide applicability to effective genome editing of various biological systems including human cells. The development of CRISPR-based base editing has enabled directional cytosine-to-thymine and adenine-to-guanine substitutions of select DNA bases at the target locus. Subsequent advances in prime editing further elevated the flexibility of the edit multiple consecutive bases to desired sequences. The recent CRISPR technologies also have been actively utilized for the development of in vivo and ex vivo gene and cell therapies. We anticipate that the medical applications of CRISPR will rapidly progress to provide unprecedented possibilities to develop novel therapeutics towards various diseases.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.65-73
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• 2022

A breakthrough in immunotherapy has changed the outlook for metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) treatment as the immune surveillance evasion mechanism of tumor cells has been continuously elucidated. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI), such as pembrolizumab, nivolumab, and ipilimumab, which block immune checkpoint receptors or ligands have been approved for the treatment of mismatch repair deficient (dMMR)/microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) mCRC based on numerous clinical studies. However, 50% of dMMR/MSI-H mCRC and most mismatch repair proficient/microsatellite stable mCRC remained unresponsive to current immunotherapy. Clinical trials on combination therapy that adds various treatments, such as target agents, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy to ICI, have been actively conducted to overcome this immunotherapy limitation. Further studies on safety and efficacy are needed although several trials presented promising data. Additionally, dMMR/MSI-H, tumor mutation burden, and programmed cell death ligand-1 expression have been studied as biomarkers for predicting the treatment response to immunotherapy, but the discovery and validation of more sensitively predictable biomarkers remained necessary. Thus, this study aimed to review recent studies on immunotherapy in mCRC, summarize the efficacy and limitation of immunotherapy, and describe the biomarkers that predict treatment response.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.99-108
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• 2016

Colorectal cancer is the third leading cancer worldwide. Although incidence and mortality of colorectal cancer are gradually decreasing in the US, patients with metastatic colorectal cancer have poor prognosis with an estimated 5-year survival rate of less than 10%. Over the past decade, advances in combination chemotherapy regimens for colorectal cancer have led to significant improvement in progression-free and overall survival. However, patients with metastatic disease gain little clinical benefit from conventional therapy, which is associated with grade 3~4 toxicity with negative effects on quality of life. In previous clinical studies, cell-based immunotherapy using dendritic cell vaccines and sentinel lymph node T cell therapy showed promising therapeutic results for metastatic colorectal cancer. In our preclinical and previous clinical studies, cytokine-induced killer (CIK) cells treatment for colorectal cancer showed favorable responses without toxicities. Here, we review current treatment options for colorectal cancer and summarize available clinical studies utilizing cell-based immunotherapy. Based on these studies, we recommend the use CIK cell therapy as a promising therapeutic strategy for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer.

• Childhood Kidney Diseases
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2023

Pediatric nephrotic syndrome (NS) is a clinical syndrome characterized by massive proteinuria, hypoalbuminemia, and generalized edema. Most childhood NS cases are idiopathic (with an unknown etiology). Traditional therapeutic approaches based on immunosuppressive agents largely support the key role of the immune system in idiopathic NS (INS), especially in the steroid-sensitive form. Although most previous studies have suggested the main role of T cell dysfunction and/or the abnormal secretion of certain glomerular permeability factors, recent studies have emphasized the role of B cells since the therapeutic efficacy of B cell depletion therapy in inducing and/or maintaining prolonged remission in patients with INS was confirmed. Furthermore, several studies have detected circulating autoantibodies that target podocyte proteins in a subset of patients with INS, suggesting an autoimmune-mediated etiology of INS. Accordingly, a new therapeutic modality using B cell-depleting drugs has been attempted, with significant effects in a subset of patients with INS. Currently, INS is considered an immune-mediated disorder caused by a complex interplay between T cells, B cells, soluble factors, and podocytes, which may vary among patients. More in-depth investigations of the pathogenic pathways of INS are required for an effective personalized therapeutic approach and to define precise targets for therapeutic intervention.

• Animal cells and systems
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.341-345
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• 2000

It has been very difficult to develop and evaluate efficient fish vaccines because fish immune cells have not been properly characterized. In this study, we investigated the cell-mediated immunological properties of B- and T-like cells in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis nilotica). Surface immunoglobulin negative ($slg^{-}$) cell population proliferated in response to mammalian T-cell mitogens PHA and Con A, while surface immunoglobulin positive ($slg^{+}$) cells responded to the B-cell mitogen LPS. The slg$^{[-10]}$ cells from hemocyanin (HC)-immunized Tilapia, compared to the non-immunized control, reacted more to PHA than to Con A. Unexpectedly, antigen (Ag)-specific response was observed in both $slg^{-}$ and $slg^{-}$cells. Regardless of HC immunization, whole leukocytes from 8 head kidney of fish showed natural killer (NK)cell activity. Especially, NK cell activity was much higher in slg$^{[-10]}$ cells than in slg$^{+}$cells, indicating the possibility that fish NK cells were not at least associated with slg$^{+}$ cell population and not activated by Ag. Further understanding of functional fish immune cells will help to evaluate and develop effective vaccines for fishes and to monitor the course of therapy In infected fishes.hes.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.164-176
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• 2020

Efficient production of antigen specific cytotoxic T cells is critical for appropriate adoptive immune response. In vitro culture and expansion of human T lymphocyte clones are very sophisticated and subtle procedure in immune cell therapy and hard to control. Therefore, many groups devoted their efforts to manipulate artificial antigen presenting cells (aAPCs) that can induce T cell activation and clonal expansion. To mimicking of natural antigen-presenting cells, aAPCs encompass basic signal molecules required for T cell activation: MHC:antigen complexes, co-stimulatory molecules and soluble immune modulating molecules. Orchestrated organization of these molecules is important for efficient T cell activation. Here, we discuss how those molecules have been incorporated in several aAPC models, but also how physical properties od aAPC are important for interaction with T cells.