Exams
Midterm

Readings
Methods

1.  Guttieri, M. et al., (2000) Expression of a human, neutralizing monoclonal antibody specific to Puumala virus G2-protein in stably-transformed insect cells.  Journal of Immunological Methods 246: 97-108.

2. Liang, M. et al., (2001) Baculovirus expression cassette vectors for rapid production of complete human IgG from phage display selected antibody fragments.  Journal of Immunological Methods 247: 119-130

3. Morgan, D. et al., (2000) Ab peptide vaccination prevents memory loss in an animal model of Alzheimer's disease. Nature 408: 982- 985.

• Hope for an Alzheimer’s vaccine that dramatically reduces amyloid depositions in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease.

4. Sullivan, N. et al., (2000) Development of a preventative vaccine for Ebola virus infection in primates. Nature 408: 605-609.

• Development of a vaccine involving DNA from three strains of Ebola followed by an injection containing the common cold virus engineered to express Ebola proteins, protects monkeys from lethal doses of the Ebola virus.

5.  Chui, D. et al., (2001) Genetic remodeling of protein glycosylation in vivo induces autoimmune disease. PNAS 98: 1142-1147.

• Altered protein glycosylation and antibodies that recognize endogenous glycans have been associated with various autoimmune syndromes.  This may be associated with genetic defects in glycan formation.

6.  McFarland, H. et al., (2001) Effective antigen-specific immunotherapy in the marmoset model of multiple sclerosis. The Journal of Immunology 116: 2116- 2121.

• An experimental multiple sclerosis treatment involving an exposure to large amounts of the antigen myelin that resulted in the T cells self-destructing in rodents.

7.  Root, M. et al., (2001) Protein design of an HIV-1 entry inhibitor. Science 291: 884-888.

• Researchers have designed a protein that can inhibit HIV infection by blocking the virus’s entry into cells in vitro.

8.  Karlsson, H. et al. (2001) Retroviral RNA identified in the cerebrospinal fluids and brains of individuals with schizophrenia. PNAS 98: 4634-4639.

• Evidence that a virus may contribute to some cases of schizophrenia.

9. Hyun Chul Lee et al. (2000) Remission in models of type 1 diabetes by gene therapy using a single-chain insulin analogue. Nature 408: 483-408.

• An insulin analogue was genetically engineered to be inserted into rats by a recombinant adeno-associated virus.  The insulin analogue was under control of a promoter that regulated the expression in response to rising blood glucose levels.

10. Wang B. et al., (2000) Adeno-associated virus vector carrying human minidystrophin genes effectively ameliorates muscular dystrophy in mdx mouse model.  PNAS 97: 13714-13719.

• Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients lack a protein dubbed dystrophin, which plays a critical role in muscle maintenance. The researchers made a paired down version of the gene capable of being delivered through a genetically modified viral vector.  It was tested on a mice model with long lasting effects.

11. Orlic, D. et al., (2001) Bone marrow cells regenerate infarcted myocardium. Nature 410: 701-705.

• Heart attack damage was repaired by using adult bone marrow stem cells in mice.

12. Thomson, J. et al., (1998) Embryonic stem cell lines derived from Human blastocysts. Science 282: 11451147.

• This describes the procedure used to culture and maintain a line of embryonic stem cells.

13.  Dumon, K. et al., (2001) FHIT gene therapy prevents tumor development in Fhit-deficient mice. PNAS 98: 3346-3351.

• Using gene therapy to replace a tumor suppressor gene prevented tumor development in mice.

14.  Childs, R. et al., (2000) Regression of metastatic renal-cell carcinoma after nonmyeloablative allogenic peripheral-blood stem-cell transplantation. The New England Journal of Medicine 343: 750-758.

• A phase I/II study involving treatment of advanced kidney cancer using blood stem cell transplants from healthy siblings.

15.  Soengas, M. et al., (2001) Inactivation of the apoptosis effector Apaf-1 in malignant melanoma. Nature 409: 207- 211.

• Half of all aggressive, deadly cancers have mutations in the p53 tumor suppressor gene.  Melanomas do not have this mutation, and they are renowned for their lack of response to chemotherapy.  Researchers have found another mutation in a gene encoding a protein called apoptosis activation factor-1 that is characteristic of melanomas.

16.  Chen C. et al., (1999) Clinical pharmacokinetics of the CD

• This is going to be a presentation of a series of articles that starts with a chimeric antibody used to treat lymphoid malignancies.  It is going to show the sequence of research from in-vitro thru phase I trials.

17.  Thiesing, J. et al., (2000) Efficacy of STI571, an Abl tyrosine kinase inhibitor, in conjunction with other antileukemic agents against Bcr-Abl positive cells. Blood 96: 3195-3199.

• This article describes a new drug that is showing promise in treating chronic myeloid leukemia in phase II trials.  This paper presents data in the efficacy of the drug in combination with other treatments in vitro.

18.  Cohen, H. and Sinclair, D., (2001) Recombination-mediated lengthening of telomeric repeats requires the Sgs1 DNA helicase. PNAS 98: 3174-3179.

• This article describes how some cancer cells cheat death by maintaining their telomeres without activating the telomerase gene.  Researchers focused on a gene known as WRN that causes Werner’s syndrome, a rare disease characterized by greatly accelerated aging, when it is missing.