Universität Rostock

MONTREAL, Sept. 26, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Epitopea, a transatlantic cancer immunotherapy company, and CQDM are proud to announce the launch of a collaborative research project between Epitopea and Université de Montréal (UdeM), a leading Canadian research institution renowned for scientific innovation and technology transfer. Together, they will examine the feasibility of developing new immunotherapies to effectively treat patients with lung and ovarian cancers. This collaborative program was made possible by a grant of Canadian $1,499,457 from the government of Quebec. CryptoMapTM is a platform resulting from the work of Professors Claude Perreault and Pierre Thibault at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) of UdeM. This platform has already allowed identification of non-mutated tumor antigens, uniquely expressed by cancer cells present in patients with the same type of cancer, called CryptigensTM. During this project, novel CryptigenTM sets will be identified from patients with diverse origins enabling the creation of universal RNA-coding cancer vaccines targeting this new class of antigens. Epitopea will validate this unique approach to stimulate the immune system to precisely recognize and destroy cancer cells more rapidly and effectively. This project has the potential to ‘unveil’ an unprecedented collection of CryptigensTM, an approach that distinguishes Epitopea from other cancer vaccine companies. Based on these data, Epitopea will be positioned to develop new RNA-based immunotherapies from this vast collection of patients samples and advance these innovative products into clinical trials. Epitopea's mission aligns perfectly with Quebec's initiatives to develop expertise in the field of RNA vaccines, as was highlighted in the recent AReNA announcement, Quebec's new RNA cluster, which aims to position Quebec as a leader in RNA-based therapies(1). “Our government is pleased to support CQDM’s initiative to facilitate research into new RNA-targeting therapies for the treatment of various forms of cancer. Québec is a global centre for innovation in the life sciences, and we remain committed to pushing forward on behalf of all Quebecers who are affected by cancer in one way or another,” said Christine Fréchette, Minister of the Economy, Innovation and Energy, Minister responsible for Regional Economic Development and Minister responsible for the Greater Montreal Area. “We are very pleased to partner with CQDM, UdeM, and our scientific co-founders, Drs. Perreault and Thibault to further extend the patient population that could potentially benefit from Epitopea’s transformative approach to treating cancer,” commented Epitopea’s CEO, Alan C. Rigby. “Epitopea will initially deploy these CryptigensTM in an off-the-shelf cancer vaccine approach, which we believe offers significant competitive advantages over personalized cancer vaccines being developed by many other organizations in the RNA immunotherapy ecosystem. Thanks to its refined versatility, we believe that the CryptoMapTM platform developed at UdeM could be applied to a wide range of tumor types, positively impacting patient responses in Quebec and across the globe.” "CQDM is proud to support a project that could transform the lives of cancer patients by providing accessible and effective RNA therapeutic solutions for difficult-to-treat diseases. This innovative collaboration between the Université de Montréal and Epitopea illustrates Quebec's dynamism as a world leader in immunotherapy research. Not only will this project strengthen our understanding of cancer treatments, it will also position Quebec as a key player in the global vaccine and RNA therapy industry," said Diane Gosselin, President and CEO of CQDM. Reference: (1) https://cqdm.org/en/2024/06/05/quebec-launches-arena-to-become-a-global-leader-in-rna-therapies/ About CQDM Biopharma innovation facilitatorCQDM is a not-for-profit biopharmaceutical research consortium whose mission is to support and facilitate multi-stakeholder collaborative research and development aimed at accelerating the translation or transformation of innovative technologies into solutions for unmet medical needs, while generating significant spin-offs for the Quebec and Canadian economies. For more information, visit cqdm.org/ and join us on Twitter/X @CQDM_Canada and LinkedIn.About Epitopea Epitopea is a transatlantic cancer immunotherapeutics company developing accessible off-the-shelf RNA-based immunotherapies for use in hard-to-treat cancers by targeting a new class of untapped tumor-specific antigens, which are known as CryptigenTM TSAs, that are broadly shared across multiple patients with the same tumor type. The company has created an extensive library of novel CryptigenTM TSAs, discovered by its proprietary CryptoMapTM platform that leverages immunopeptidomics, genomics, and a bioinformatics pipeline, allowing the identification of aberrantly-expressed, tumour-specific antigens (aeTSA’s) that are hidden within cancer’s ’junk’ DNA. These hidden CryptigenTM TSAs were first discovered through research led by Drs. Claude Perreault and Pierre Thibault at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer at the Université de Montréal. Epitopea is backed by leading transatlantic life science investors including Advent Life Sciences, CTI Life Sciences, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Le Fonds de Solidarité FTQ, the Harrington Discovery Institute, Novateur Ventures, and Investissement Québec. The company has raised financing of more than $13 Million USD. Epitopea was founded in 2021 and consists of sister companies based in Cambridge, UK and in Montreal, Canada. For additional information, please visit www.epitopea.com/ and follow us on LinkedIn. About Université de Montréal Deeply rooted in Montreal and dedicated to its international mission, Université de Montréal is a leading research university worldwide and among the five best French-language universities. With its affiliated schools, Polytechnique Montréal and HEC Montréal, UdeM attracts over $650 million in research funding every year, making it one of Canada’s top university research hubs. UdeM has over 67,000 students, 2,300 professors and researchers, and an active global network of 450,000 alumni. For additional information, please visit: umontreal.ca/ For further information Julia SerafinoMarketing Communication CoordinatorCQDMTel: +1 438-543-9498jserafino@cqdm.org Geneviève O'MearaSpokesperson and Senior AdvisorUniversité de MontréalTel: +1 514-343-7704genevieve.omeara@umontreal.ca Scius Communications (for Epitopea)Katja StoutTel: +44 7789 435990katja@sciuscommunications.com

Tumors actively prevent the formation of immune responses by so-called cytotoxic T cells, which are essential in combating cancer. Researchers have now uncovered for the first time how this exactly happens. The study provides rationales for new cancer immunotherapies and could make existing treatments more effective. Tumors actively prevent the formation of immune responses by so-called cytotoxic T cells, which are essential in combating cancer. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) Hospital have now uncovered for the first time how this exactly happens. The study in the journal Nature provides rationales for new cancer immunotherapies and could make existing treatments more effective. A second paper in Nature confirms the findings. In cancer, tumors often impair the body's immune response. For example, they can prevent immune cells from perceiving cancer cells as a threat or render them inactive. Immunotherapies aim to overcome these mechanisms and stimulate the immune system, in particular the T cells. However, such therapies do not work for a large number of cancer patients. Researchers around the world are looking for the causes and new counter-strategies. Messenger substance stops effector development of T cells in tumors A team led by Dr. Jan Böttcher, research group leader at the Institute of Molecular Immunology at TUM, and Prof. Sebastian Kobold, Deputy Director of the Department of Clinical Pharmacology at LMU Klinikum München, has now discovered that tumors use a messenger substance to influence immune cells in an early phase of the immune response. Many cancer cells show increased secretion of the messenger substance prostaglandin E2. The researchers were able to show that prostaglandin E2 binds to EP2 and EP4, two receptors on the surface of certain immune cells. These so-called stem-like T cells migrate from other areas of the body into the tumor. If the immune response is successful, they multiply in the tumor and develop into cytotoxic T cells that attack the cancer. "This whole process is strongly limited when tumors secrete prostaglandin E2 and this factor binds to EP2 and EP4 receptors," says Jan Böttcher. "The T cell response collapses and the tumor can progress." If the researchers prevented the interaction of messenger substance and receptor in tumor models, the immune system was able to fight tumors effectively. Current therapies address a later point of the immune response "We have discovered a mechanism that influences the body's immune response in a crucial phase," says Jan Böttcher. "Many tumors prevent the stem-like T cells from generating cytotoxic T cells in the tumor that could attack the cancer." Current immunotherapies aim to prevent the cancer from switching off immune responses at a later phase. Checkpoint inhibitor therapies, for example, aim to release the blockade of fully differentiated cytotoxic T cells and "switch them back on." Before the dreaded T cell exhaustion sets in, which other researchers are trying to prevent, differentiated T cells must also be present. Increase the effectiveness of existing therapies "Current treatment approaches would probably be more effective if the effects of prostaglandin E2 on stem-like T cells is blocked to enable their unhindered differentiation within tumor tissue," says Sebastian Kobold. This similarly applies to recent approaches that rely on the protein IL-2 to stimulate T cells. The current study shows that as soon as the prostaglandin E2 binds to the two receptors, T cells can no longer respond to IL-2. "We suspect that even the body's own IL-2 signals may be sufficient to enable T cells to successfully fight cancer once the effects of prostaglandin E2 have been stopped," says Sebastian Kobold. Second study in "Nature" confirms results A second research publication in Nature investigates the effects of prostaglandin E2 on the immune system. For this study, the authors, researchers from the University Hospital of Lausanne, collaborated with the Munich team. In their laboratory, they among other things examined T cells from human tumor tissue. When they blocked the release of prostaglandin E2 in cancer tissue, the T cells showed better expansion and were thus able to fight human cancer cells more effectively. Search for counter-strategies begins "We now have a concrete starting point for significantly improving immunotherapies," says Jan Böttcher. "Researchers around the world must now develop strategies to overcome the tumors' defense. We need to stop the effects of prostaglandin E2 -- either by preventing tumors from producing the molecule or by making immune cells resistant to it."

A research team discovers previously unknown gene that indirectly promotes photosynthesis Protein regulator NirP1 influences the coordination of the nitrogen and carbohydrate metabolism 'Such protein regulators could in future be deployed in 'green' and 'blue' biotechnology for targeted control of the metabolism,' says geneticist. Cyanobacteria -- also called blue-green algae -- are known as the "plants of the ocean" because they carry out photosynthesis on a gigantic scale, produce oxygen and extract the greenhouse gas CO2 from the environment. However, to do this they need additional nutrients such as nitrogen. A team headed by biologist Prof. Dr Wolfgang R. Hess, Professor of Genetics at the University of Freiburg, has discovered a previously unknown gene that plays a key role in the coordination of the nitrogen and carbohydrate metabolism: with it, cyanobacteria indirectly regulate the growth of microorganisms that promote photosynthesis. "Our work shows that there are numerous previously unknown interdependencies even between the smallest organisms in the environment and that many previously unknown genes play a part in this," says Hess. The results have been published in the science journal Nature Communications. Balance between primary nutrients The amounts of carbon (CO2) and nitrogen available for plants, algae and cyanobacteria are not always the same. For photosynthesis, a physiologically relevant balance between these two primary nutrients is of huge importance. In the genetic data of cyanobacteria, Alexander Kraus, doctoral student with Wolfgang R. Hess at the University of Freiburg, has now discovered and characterised a gene that plays a key part in this context: the gene encodes a protein named NirP1. This is only produced if the cells identify a deficiency of carbon in relation to the available nitrogen. The protein is itself too small to act as an enzyme like many other proteins. Working with Dr Philipp Spät and Prof. Dr Boris Ma?ek from the Proteome Center at the University of Tübingen, the researchers were however able to discover that NirP1 can bond permanently with an enzyme that would normally convert nitrite into ammonium. NirP1 prevents this and thus ensures that nitrite accumulates in the cells; this is then followed by further massive metabolic changes, which were analysed in detail in collaboration with Prof. Dr Martin Hagemann 's team at the University of Rostock. Finally, the cyanobacteria begin to export nitrite to the environment, where the additional nitrite stimulates the growth of useful microorganisms, and so a microbiome that is beneficial to the photosynthesis of the cyanobacteria. Ideas for further research The results suggest ideas for ongoing research into the interactions between microorganisms and the role of this regulating gene which was previously little known, says Hess. "In addition, small protein regulators like NirP1 could in future be deployed in 'green' and 'blue' biotechnology for targeted control of the metabolism."