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UC San Diego researchers receive funding to develop Zika, cancer treatments
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Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine were recently awarded with a pair of $2 million grants to support research investigating new treatments for Zika virus infection and the use of stem cell-derived natural killer cells against ovarian cancer and other malignancies, according to a press release.
One of the $2 million grants, which were awarded by the Independent Citizens Oversight Committee of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, will fund the study of FDA–approved antiviral drugs for other infectious diseases against Zika virus infection. Alysson R. Muotri, PhD, professor in the UC San Diego School of Medicine departments of pediatrics and cellular and molecular medicine, and director of the UC San Diego Stem Cell Program, said in the release that preliminary findings in cellular and animal models have already shown promise.
“There is urgent need to move as quickly as we can into clinical trials and, hopefully, find an effective treatment,” he said. “This is especially true of infected mothers where a Zika infection during the first trimester of pregnancy appears to pose the greatest risk of congenital microcephaly.”
The other grant will support the development of an “off-the-shelf immunotherapy” for refractory or resistant tumors, such as ovarian cancer, using natural killer (NK) cells.
“NK cells are part of the normal immune system and are known to kill certain tumors and virally-infected cells,” Dan S. Kaufman, MD, PhD, professor of medicine in the division of regenerative medicine and director of cell therapy, said in the release.
Kaufman and his research team have established a process to generate NK cells from induced human pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The research team plans on exploring ways to optimize the ability of iPSC–derived NK cells to target leukemia cells.
“Unlike current immunotherapies produced on a patient-specific basis, iPSC–derived immune cells can be targeted to tumors with high specificity, no off-target effects and without need for patient matching,” he said in the release.
Disclosure: Infectious Disease News was unable to confirm relevant financial disclosures at the time of publication.
*Image credit: UC San Diego Health