InvivoGen’s Reviews
Inflammasome
NLRP1 & NLRP3: a tale of two inflammasome sensors
In this first newsletter of 2023, InvivoGen highlights the current knowledge about the NLRP1 and NLRP3 inflammasome sensors and discusses the experimental difficulty in assessing their respective role in pathophysiological contexts.
We also introduce a series of new products, including NLRP1 reporter cell lines, TLR4 reporter cell lines, as well as a new liquid formulation of our highly-cited luciferase detection reagent, QUANTI-Luc 4 Lucia/Gaussia.
Previous reviews
Vaccination
Vaccine Adjuvants review
Adjuvants are essential for enhancing and directing the adaptative immune response to vaccine antigens. This response is mediated by two main types of lymphocytes, B and T cells.
COVID-19
Spotlight on COVID-19: Protective immunity & Re-infection
As our understanding of COVID-19 continuously progresses, some essential questions remain open including "Does protective immunity develop after SARS-CoV-2 infection?" and "How long does it last?" There is growing evidence that re-infection by SARS-CoV-2 can occur, indicating that immunity is either not strong enough, or not long-lasting in all individuals. Therefore, it is crucial to...
COVID-19
Spotlight on COVID-19: Vaccine development
Globally, the vaccine development effort in response to the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in terms of both scale and speed. Importantly, SARS-CoV-2 vaccines will be essential in reducing morbidity and mortality if the virus establishes itself in the population. The race is now on for the development of both a safe and, effective vaccine against SARS-CoV-2.
COVID-19
Spotlight on COVID-19: Predicted immune responses
Currently, there is very limited knowledge of the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2. However, SARS-Cov-2 shares sequence identity with SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, similar cell entry mechanisms, and the propensity to induce hyper inflammation in severe cases. Therefore, based on the accumulated clinical and experimental data on these previous viruses, predictions can be made on how the host...
COVID-19
Spotlight on COVID-19: Treatment with repurposed drugs
There are currently no effective drugs targeting SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. The first strategy for the treatment of COVID-19 is the repurposing of existing drugs that are known to be safe in humans. Therapeutic targets against SARS-CoV-2 exist at various stages of the infection including viral attachment, entry, and replication, as well as the host cytokine response.
COVID-19
Spotlight on COVID-19: Infection
Since December 2019, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread rapidly around the world, causing a pandemic that threatens global public health. The causative agent of COVID-19 is Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a novel β-coronavirus. Globally, the number of positive COVID-19 cases grows exponentially every day and now the race is on to find both an...
Innate Immunity
TLR7 & TLR8: fraternal twins
Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play a pivotal role in the initiation of anti-infectious immune responses. Distinct pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) are recognized by different TLRs, at the cell surface or in endosomes. TLR7 and TLR8 are endosomal receptors that share structural homology and sense viral single stranded (ss) RNA as well as synthetic base analogs. However, there are...
Innate Immunity / PRR / Inflammasome
NLRP3: a sophisticated drug target
NLRP3 (NOD-like receptor pyrin domain-containing protein 3, cryopyrin or NALP3) is the best described inflammasome sensor and an attractive drug target. NLRP3 assembles into a multiprotein inflammasome complex to induce the secretion of IL-1β/IL-18 and pyroptosis in response to infections and cellular damage. However, NLRP3 inflammasome functions can also be detrimental to the host, as its...
Innate Immunity / PRR
RIG-I & cancer immunotherapy
The development of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has revolutionized cancer immunotherapy, although complete remission remains limited to a small panel of cancers and patients. ICIs act by relieving checkpoint restraints on antitumor T cell responses. They work best against immunogenic, T-cell inflamed or « hot » tumors. In contrast, ICIs are poorly efficient in «cold» tumor...
Antibodies
Immune Checkpoint Blockade: InestimAble Advances
Over the last decade, the understanding of key steps in the regulation of T cell responses has led to the groundbreaking development of immune checkpoint blocking monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to fight cancer. The first FDA-approved mAbs have provided unprecedented remissions in melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer, although with considerable variation in response rates (10% to 90%) and...