There are multiple ways to categorize nearly everything in biology. The value of an individual categorization scheme depends on the perspective of the user. As Shirley Malcom (former Director, Education and Human Resources Programs, AAAS) once said, “We [Biologists] are splitters not lumpers.” This need for classification makes consensus difficult, can limit our way of … Read more
How will we benefit from being able to accurately predict the peptide antigens that the immune system can recognize? Vaccine development would be a major beneficiary of such knowledge (Figure 1). We could produce more effective and safer vaccines. We could develop vaccines for pathogens for which no vaccine is currently available. We could ensure … Read more
Target tissue type, as well as a patient’s gender, nutritional, and reproductive status, must be considered to manipulate signaling through the RANKL/RANK pathway for therapeutic benefit. In some contexts, activating this pathway can be beneficial and in others inhibiting this pathway is beneficial. RANKL is the ligand, RANK [receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB)] … Read more
Some cancer immunotherapy drugs turn off a signaling pathway; others turn on a signaling pathway (1). FDA-approved immunotherapy drugs that target the PD-L1/PD-1 or CTLA-4/B-7 immune checkpoints function as antagonists to block immune signaling pathways. Investigational immunotherapy drugs that target GITRL/GITR function as agonists to activate an immune signaling pathway. Investigational drugs that target OX40L/OX40 … Read more
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