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Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a group of human viruses known to cause various malignancies. Of the group, HPV-16 is the most prevalent strain – an estimated 90% of adults have been exposed. HPV-16 is also the strain most commonly associated with malignancy, causing the vast majority of cervical, anal, vaginal, vulvar, and penile cancers. Currently, HPV-positive malignancies non-responsive to surgery or radiation are incurable and poorly palliated by existing systemic therapies. Thus, an alternative therapeutic approach for HPV-positive malignancies is needed. 

Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a group of human viruses known to cause various malignancies. Of the group, HPV-16 is the most prevalent strain – an estimated 90% of adults have been exposed. HPV-16 is also the strain most commonly associated with malignancy, causing the vast majority of cervical, anal, vaginal, vulvar, and penile cancers. Currently, HPV-positive malignancies non-responsive to surgery or radiation are incurable and poorly palliated by existing systemic therapies. Thus, an alternative therapeutic approach for HPV-positive malignancies is needed. 

Measuring and mapping nervous tissue microstructure noninvasively is a long sought-after goal in neuroscience. Several neuropathologies – such as cancer and stroke – are associated with changes in tissue microstructure. Changes in material properties, such as stiffness, represent a sensitive measure of

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are lipid bilayer-enclosed particles that are released from cells. EVs may contain proteins derived from their cells of origin with the potential as diagnostic biomarkers indicating the state of the cells when released. However, due to their small size (50-1000nm), the methods currently used to phenotype EVs have limited sensitivity and scale. A need exists for development of novel technologies improving EV detection and phenotyping.

Immunotherapy is a cutting-edge new category of treatment that aims to harness and, in some cases, modify the patient’s own immune cells to improve their ability to cure diseases. It can be an effective approach for a variety of conditions, ranging from cancer to inflammatory diseases.  However, a number of obstacles to the overall success of immunotherapy still exist.  For example, reactivity against a target antigen can be attenuated or the lifespan of the “modified” immune cells can be too short.

Measuring and mapping nervous tissue microstructure noninvasively is a long sought-after goal in neuroscience. Clinically, several neuropathologies such as cancer and stroke, are associated with changes in tissue microstructure. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), which models diffusion anisotropy, is an ideal imaging modality to elucidate these changes. However, DTI provides a mean diffusion tensor averaged over the entire MRI voxel. This has limitations when applied to heterogeneous neural tissue.

Cell motility and membrane trafficking play important roles in regulating cell division, cell migration, cell death and autophagy. Impairment of these processes can result in enhanced cell proliferation and survival and increased migration and invasion leading to cancer. Several proteins involved in cell motility and membrane trafficking have been shown to be dysregulated in various cancers. There is therefore a need for development of animal models for studying the roles of these proteins in cancer and their responses to drug treatment in vivo.

Biological nanoparticles, like extracellular vesicles (EVs), possess unique biological characteristics making them attractive therapeutic agents, targets, or disease biomarkers. However, their use is hindered by the lack of tools available to accurately detect, sort, and analyze. Flow cytometers are used to sort and study individual cells. But, they are unable to detect and sort nanomaterials smaller than 200 nanometers with single epitope sensitivity.

Extracellular Vesicles (EVs), including exosomes and microvesicles, are nanometer-sized membranous vesicles that can carry different types of cargos, such as proteins, nucleic acids and metabolites. EVs are produced and released by most cell types. They act as biological mediators for intercellular communication via delivery of their cargos. This unique ability spurred translational research interest for targeted delivery of therapeutic molecules to treat a wide range of diseases. EVs also contain interesting information of their specific cellular origin.

Cancer immunotherapy approaches, such as adoptive cell transfer (ACT), proved effective against many cancer types. Yet, post-treatment analyses of ACT have suggested that efficacy may be enhanced by increasing the percentage of neoantigen-reactive T cells in the infused product. Neoantigens are new proteins that form on cancer cells when certain mutations occur in tumor DNA. Current techniques for identifying neoantigen-specific TCRs in T cell expression are labor-intensive, time-consuming and technically challenging.