Rhonda L. McFleder

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most prevalent and lethal primary malignant brain tumor and remains incurable despite aggressive multimodal standard therapy. Although novel treatment strategies, such as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy, have shown encouraging results, the highly heterogeneous tumor antigen landscape in GBM presents a major challenge for monovalent treatment strategies.

Abstract Background. While chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells have achieved encouraging remission rates in hematological malignancies, they demonstrated limited success in treating Glioblastoma (GBM), particularly due to high intra- and intertumoral heterogeneity. In this study, we identified a relevant and preserved target antigen, Podoplanin (PDPN), and evaluated the potential of a PDPN- and GD2-CAR T cell blend to overcome GBM heterogeneity. Methods.

Abstract Inflammation in the brain and gut is a critical component of several neurological diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease (PD). One trigger of the immune system in PD is aggregation of the pre-synaptic protein, α-synuclein (αSyn). Understanding the mechanism of propagation of αSyn aggregates is essential to developing disease-modifying therapeutics. Using a brain-first mouse model of PD, we demonstrate αSyn trafficking from the brain to the ileum of male mice.