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The tumor microenvironment consists of a heterogenous population of cells which includes tumor cells and tumor-associated stroma cells (TASCs). The TASCs promote tumor angiogenesis, proliferation, invasion and metastasis. Because stroma cells are found in both healthy and cancerous tissue, targeting the tumor stroma has been difficult due to the lack of targets with high tumor specificity.

T cell-based immunotherapy (such as CAR therapies) is a promising approach for the treatment of several cancers. However, T cells currently employed for various T cell-based immunotherapies are usually senescent and terminally differentiated leading to poor proliferative and survival capacity, limiting their therapeutic effectiveness once transferred into a patient’s blood. 

Adoptive Cell Therapy (ACT) is a promising technique that uses a patient's own T cells to treat cancer. The process requires removing and engineering a patient's T cells to express a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) or T cell receptor (TCR) that targets a specific cancer antigen. When the modified T cells are reintroduced into the patient, the T cells attack and kill cancer cells that express the antigen, thereby treating the patient.

The occurrence of thyroid cancer has been increasing in the United States. For some patients, with particularly advanced and metastatic cancer, current treatments such as thyroidectomy and adjuvant radioactive iodine therapy can lead to poor outcomes. Hence, there is a need for new thyroid cancer treatments.

Drug delivery technologies have long claimed the ability to selectively deliver therapeutic cargo to target cells. Despite advances in nanomedicine and drug delivery systems, there are no targeted nanoscale drug delivery technologies on the market. Thus, there is still tremendous potential in improved therapeutic efficacy when targeted drug delivery is achieved. 

Angiogenesis is the formation of new blood vessels from pre-existing blood vessels. Angiogenesis occurs during normal growth and development, where it is known as physiological angiogenesis, and during the growth of solid tumors, where it is known as pathological angiogenesis. CD276, also known as B7-H3, is a cell surface tumor endothelial marker that is highly expressed in the tumor vessels of human lung, breast, colon, endometrial, renal, and ovarian cancer, but not in the angiogenic vessels of healthy tissue.

The discovery and selection of suitable compounds for the treatment and prevention of autoimmune, inflammatory, and pain disorders is a significant challenge. Researchers at National Institute of Aging (NIA) mitigated this issue. They discovered and synthesized numerous novel fatty acid derivatives (novel small molecules) that may ameliorate these conditions and provide treatment options for these disorders. In a relevant rat model, the fatty acid derivatives developed by NIA demonstrated:

Substance use disorder is a chronic medical condition, taking its toll on our public health care and judicial systems in an economically unsustainable way.  More than 20 million Americans suffer from substance use disorders.

Papillomavirus pseudoviruses that comprise the L1/L2 capsid proteins can package a wide variety of non-viral DNA plasmids and deliver the packaged genetic material to cells. This function makes them attractive candidates as targeted gene delivery vehicles.

Polo-like kinase 1 (Plk1) is a critical protein involved in regulation of mitosis, and aberrant expression of this kinase is found in various cancer types.  Inhibition of Plk1 is currently being pursued in pre-clinical drug development for novel anti-cancer therapeutics.  Plk1 contains an allosteric domain, known as the polo-box domain (PBD), that is responsible for localizing the kinase domain to mitotic structures through protein-protein interactions.