Turbocharging the killing power of immune cells against cancer eurekalert.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from eurekalert.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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ROCKVILLE, Md., Feb. 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ The National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) announced today that the 2021 Szent-Györgyi Prize for Progress in Cancer Research will be awarded to Tak W. Mak, Ph.D., senior scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre and university professor at the University of Toronto, and Mark M. Davis, Ph.D., professor of microbiology and immunology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, for their breakthrough discoveries of the structure of T-cell receptor (TCR) and pioneering research in deciphering the mechanisms of T-cell recognition and development. These discoveries have formed a critical part of contemporary immuno-oncology and the molecular foundation for life-saving CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) T-cell therapies, a novel T-cell-based immunotherapy approach already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of several types of blood cancer.
What comes next: UHN’s continued effort in defeating COVID-19
Post-vaccine, there are still a lot of unknowns when it comes to the virus’ long-term impacts By Joseph Cicerone
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Dr. Bradly Wouters was present as one of Canada’s first COVID-19 vaccines was administered to a personal support worker at Toronto’s University Health Network (UHN) in December. A symbol of optimism, that historic day has affirmed the value of science and global cooperation amidst the pandemic. “I don’t think we can understate how incredible it is that the world collectively developed safe, effective vaccines in a period of 10 months,” says Dr. Wouters, UHN’s Executive Vice President of Science and Research. After months of collective distress, Canadians are beginning to anticipate an end to what many have described as the greatest challenge of our lifetime.
A novel approach to suppress the growth of glioblastoma cells
Inhibiting a key enzyme that controls a large network of proteins important in cell division and growth paves the way for a new class of drugs that could stop glioblastoma, a deadly brain cancer, from growing.
Researchers at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and University of Toronto, showed that chemically inhibiting the enzyme PRMT5 can suppress the growth of glioblastoma cells.
The inhibition of PRMT5 led to cell senescence, similar to what happens to cells during aging when cells lose the ability to divide and grow. Cellular senescence can also be a powerful tumor suppression mechanism, stopping the unrelenting division of cancer cells.