{"id":659252,"date":"2025-03-28T14:15:20","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T11:15:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/qa-with-professor-of-pharmacology\/"},"modified":"2025-03-28T14:15:20","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T11:15:20","slug":"qa-with-professor-of-pharmacology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/qa-with-professor-of-pharmacology\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&#038;A with professor of pharmacology"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6af6fdc7e0d27\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6af6fdc7e0d27\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/qa-with-professor-of-pharmacology\/#What_issueproblem_does_your_research_address\" >What issue\/problem does your research address?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/qa-with-professor-of-pharmacology\/#What_was_unique_about_your_approach_to_the_research_Was_anything_about_the_work_unique_to_Vanderbilt_University\" >What was unique about your approach to the research? Was anything about the work unique to Vanderbilt University?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/qa-with-professor-of-pharmacology\/#What_were_your_top_findings\" >What were your top findings?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/qa-with-professor-of-pharmacology\/#Who_or_what_made_the_difference_in_your_research_What_small_things_contributed_to_your_work\" >Who or what made the difference in your research? What small things contributed to your work?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/qa-with-professor-of-pharmacology\/#What_do_you_hope_will_be_achieved_with_this_research_in_the_short_term\" >What do you hope will be achieved with this research in the short term?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/qa-with-professor-of-pharmacology\/#What_are_your_highest_translational_or_clinical_aspirations_that_might_result_from_this_research\" >What are your highest translational or clinical aspirations that might result from this research?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/qa-with-professor-of-pharmacology\/#Where_is_this_research_taking_you_next\" >Where is this research taking you next?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-gallery lightGallery\">\n<div data-thumb=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/tmb\/2025\/researchers-identify-p-2.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/2025\/researchers-identify-p-2.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"This schematic summarizes the screen that the authors used to find drugs that could potentiate CD8+ T-cells to kill tumor cells and the ensuing testing those drugs underwent. Briefly, breast cancer tumor cells (labeled in green and blue) were incubated with each of 448 drugs in the presence or absence of T-cells isolated from mice. The cells were then monitored to see if the drugs enhanced the ability of the T-cells to kill tumors. Credit: &lt;i&gt;Cancers&lt;\/i&gt; (2024). DOI: 10.3390\/cancers16234075\">\n<figure class=\"article-img\">\n            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/800a\/2025\/researchers-identify-p-2.jpg\" alt=\"Researchers identify potential drug combinations to improve breast cancer treatment\" title=\"This schematic summarizes the screen that the authors used to find drugs that could potentiate CD8+ T-cells to kill tumor cells and the ensuing testing those drugs underwent. Briefly, breast cancer tumor cells (labeled in green and blue) were incubated with each of 448 drugs in the presence or absence of T-cells isolated from mice. The cells were then monitored to see if the drugs enhanced the ability of the T-cells to kill tumors. Credit: Cancers (2024). DOI: 10.3390\/cancers16234075\" width=\"800\" height=\"530\"\/><figcaption class=\"text-darken text-low-up text-truncate-js text-truncate mt-3\">\n                This schematic summarizes the screen that the authors used to find drugs that could potentiate CD8+ T-cells to kill tumor cells and the ensuing testing those drugs underwent. Briefly, breast cancer tumor cells (labeled in green and blue) were incubated with each of 448 drugs in the presence or absence of T-cells isolated from mice. The cells were then monitored to see if the drugs enhanced the ability of the T-cells to kill tumors. Credit: <i>Cancers<\/i> (2024). DOI: 10.3390\/cancers16234075<br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Trip<\/a>le-negative breast cancer, an aggressive type of breast cancer, accounts for 10% of all breast cancer cases in the United States annually. CD8<sup>+<\/sup> T cells that normally kill cancer cells often become exhausted and stop.<\/p>\n<p>To overcome that, some cancers, such as TNBC, can be treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors, which inhibit checkpoint proteins that cause T-cell exhaustion and allow them to continue to attack tumor cells.<\/p>\n<p>Certain ICIs have been <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>roved for use in TNBC in combination with standard-of-care chemotherapy, but the patient response is variable and often not durable, and there is evidence that many common chemotherapeutic drugs have, in fact, immunosuppressive effects.<\/p>\n<p>To tackle this problem, Ann Richmond, professor of pharmacology, is optimizing chemotherapy or targeted therapy approaches for use in combination with ICI.<\/p>\n<p>In their latest research paper, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/cancers16234075\" target=\"_blank\">published<\/a> in the journal <i>Cancers<\/i>, Richmond lab members Kennady Bullock and Patricia Ward, in collaboration with researchers from the High-Throughput Screening Facility Thomas Hasaka, Emily Days, and Joshua Bauer, screened a unique library of anticancer compounds that are either currently in clinical trials or that have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to see if they could enhance the CD8<sup>+<\/sup> T-cell-<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>ted killing of tumor cells.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_issueproblem_does_your_research_address\"><\/span>What issue\/problem does your research address?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Therapies currently used to treat cancers often also inhibit the ability of immune cells, such as CD8<sup>+<\/sup> T-cells, to kill tumor cells. The purpose of our study was to identify currently available drugs used for cancer therapy that could enhance the ability of CD8<sup>+<\/sup> T-cells to kill tumor cells.<\/p>\n<p>To accomplish this, we developed a screening assay to test whether any of 448 anticancer compounds (part of a library provided by the High-Throughput Screening Facility) could enhance the ability of CD8<sup>+<\/sup> T-cells to kill cancer cells.<\/p>\n<p>We cultured CD8<sup>+<\/sup> T-cells that recognize a specific antigen expressed by breast cancer cells and monitored their ability to kill tumor cells in the presence of each of the compounds. Since these drugs also directly kill tumor cells, we treated a second set of cells with the drugs but without the CD8<sup>+<\/sup> T-cells and used that to infer how much tumor cell death was due to the drug-enhanced activity of the CD8<sup>+<\/sup> T-cells versus the drug alone.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_was_unique_about_your_approach_to_the_research_Was_anything_about_the_work_unique_to_Vanderbilt_University\"><\/span>What was unique about your approach to the research? Was anything about the work unique to Vanderbilt University?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The first author, Kennady Bullock, developed a unique assay to detect drug-enhanced CD8<sup>+<\/sup> T-cell killing of tumor cells. In addition, the methodology used to monitor T-cell-mediated tumor cell killing was developed by the HTS facility.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_were_your_top_findings\"><\/span>What were your top findings?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We screened more than 400 drugs and identified 22 that potentiated the ability of CD8<sup>+<\/sup> T-cells to kill breast cancer tumor cells. We focused additional attention on the four drugs with the greatest T-cell-enhancing activity: paclitaxel, bleomycin sulfate, ispinesib, and etoposide.<\/p>\n<p>These lead compounds affected the immunogenicity (the ability to elicit an immune reaction) of the tumor cells, which was reflected in their increased expression of three markers involved with antigen presentation, MHCI, MHCII, and PD-L1, and their release of two markers of immunogenic cell death, ATP and HMGB1.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Who_or_what_made_the_difference_in_your_research_What_small_things_contributed_to_your_work\"><\/span>Who or what made the difference in your research? What small things contributed to your work?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>This research resulted from Kennady&#8217;s creativity when she was a graduate student in the lab. That said, the HTS facility made it possible to achieve the results we got.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_do_you_hope_will_be_achieved_with_this_research_in_the_short_term\"><\/span>What do you hope will be achieved with this research in the short term?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Although paclitaxel is already used for the treatment of certain breast cancers, often in combination with the checkpoint inhibitors anti-PD1 or anti-PDL1, our data indicate that bleomycin sulfate, ispinesib, and etoposide may also increase the patient response to these immune checkpoint blockade therapies.<\/p>\n<p>Moreover, our results show that these T-cell-enhancing drugs could be used at doses low enough to potentiate the CD8<sup>+<\/sup> T-cell killing of tumor cells without some of the toxic side effects that normally accompany the higher doses needed for drug-induced death of the tumor cells.<\/p>\n<p>Using these drugs to potentiate the immune-mediated killing of cancer cells could make for a less unpleasant and toxic chemotherapy experience for patients.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_are_your_highest_translational_or_clinical_aspirations_that_might_result_from_this_research\"><\/span>What are your highest translational or clinical aspirations that might result from this research?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We hope that this assay can help identify other drugs that, at low doses, can potentiate T-cells to better kill tumor cells and work in concert with immune checkpoint inhibitors to avoid toxic side effects for cancer patients.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_is_this_research_taking_you_next\"><\/span>Where is this research taking you next?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Kennady is looking to follow up with this work and continue studying how the immune system can be harnessed to treat cancer during her current postdoctoral work in the laboratory of Dr. Patrick Hwu at the Moffitt Cancer Center.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-main__more p-4\">\n<p><strong>More information:<\/strong><br \/>\n                                                    Kennady K. Bullock et al, A High-Throughput Immune-Oncology Screen Identifies Immunostimulatory Properties of Cytotoxic Chemotherapy Agents in TNBC, <i>Cancers<\/i> (2024). <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-doi=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.3390\/cancers16234075\" target=\"_blank\">DOI: 10.3390\/cancers16234075<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"d-inline-block text-medium my-4\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tProvided by<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tVanderbilt University<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"icon_open\" href=\"http:\/\/www.vanderbilt.edu\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<use href=\"https:\/\/medx.b-cdn.net\/tmpl\/v6\/img\/svg\/sprite.svg#icon_open\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/svg><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<p>                                        <!-- print only --><\/p>\n<div class=\"d-none d-print-block\">\n<p>\n                                                 <strong>Citation<\/strong>:<br \/>\n                                                 Researchers identify potential drug combinations to improve breast cancer treatment: Q&amp;A with professor of pharmacology (2025, March 28)<br \/>\n                                                 retrieved 28 March 2025<br \/>\n                                                 from https:\/\/medicalxpress.com\/<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a>\/2025-03-potential-drug-combinations-breast-cancer.html\n                                            <\/p>\n<p>\n                                            This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no<br \/>\n                                            part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.\n                                            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script id=\"facebook-jssdk\" async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. 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Briefly, breast cancer tumor cells (labeled in green and blue) were incubated with each of 448 drugs in the presence or absence of T-cells isolated from mice&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":659253,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/2025\/researchers-identify-p-2.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-659252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sciencee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=659252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659252\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}