T-Cell Response in COVID-19 Vaccine Development- A Webinar by CellCarta

October 1, 2020

Discussions on COVID-19 immune responses, including the responses in early vaccine clinical studies, have focused largely on antibody responses.

However, recent data indicate that the cellular immune response also plays an important role and should be considered when evaluating the immune response.

Assessing T-cell responses can provide critical information about vaccine responses and the development and persistence of protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2 that will be critical in the fight against COVID-19.

The webinar is co-sponsored by Caprion-HistoGeneX and WCG and will feature the following speakers:

Scott Gottlieb, M.D., Former Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Dr. Gottlieb will discuss the implications of immune response testing for overall assessment, regulatory approval, and public acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines.

James Rothman, Ph.D., Sterling Professor of Cell Biology, Yale University; Recipient, Nobel Prize in Medicine, 2013
Dr. Rothman will provide an overview of the immune response to SARS-CoV-2 and the importance of cellular immunity. The key findings from our previous experiences with SARS-CoV-1 as well as the latest publications will also be discussed.

Eustache Paramithiotis, Ph.D., Vice President, Research & Development, Caprion-HistoGeneX
Testing methods for understanding complex immune system reactions as part of vaccine development programs will be discussed by Dr. Paramithiotis. Information on the methodology and accuracy of these assays will be provided.

Our speakers will discuss:

An overview of the current state of COVID-19 vaccine development
The adaptive immune response to SARS-CoV-2 and the importance of cellular immunity

Testing methods and assay standardization for understanding complex immune system reactions as part of vaccine development programs

Learn more about CellCarta

T-Cell Response in COVID-19 Vaccine Development- A Webinar by CellCarta

October 1, 2020

Discussions on COVID-19 immune responses, including the responses in early vaccine clinical studies, have focused largely on antibody responses.

However, recent data indicate that the cellular immune response also plays an important role and should be considered when evaluating the immune response.

The webinar is co-sponsored by Caprion-HistoGeneX and WCG and will feature the following speakers:

Our speakers will discuss:

An overview of the current state of COVID-19 vaccine development
The adaptive immune response to SARS-CoV-2 and the importance of cellular immunity

Testing methods and assay standardization for understanding complex immune system reactions as part of vaccine development programs

Learn more about CellCarta

Antigen Presentation: A Critical Step in Immune Therapy Dev.

June 10, 2020

In this webinar you will learn:

Successful antigen presentation is required to initiate an immune response
The most physiologically relevant way to measure the full breadth of antigen presentation is by direct observation of presented peptides using mass spectrometry
The quality and robustness of the mass spectrometry data generation is therefore a critical element

What is antigen presentation?

Antigen presentation is essential for development of a robust immune response.

Binding of an MHC-peptide complex by a T cell receptor is the initial and critical step for starting a new adaptive immune response or for regulating an ongoing one. Identification of effectively presented antigens is therefore a defining element for any successful immune therapy.

Antigen presentation can occur through MHC class I, class II, or non-classical MHC proteins. Each protein complex has characteristic tissue expression, type of antigen peptide presented, and role in the immune response.

Most lymphocytes including all of those with antigen presenting functions can express both MHC I and MHC II, and involvement of both MHC I- and MHC II-restricted responses is considered essential for a full immune response.

Non-classical MHC such as HLA-E and HLA-G are characterized by either a relatively restricted tissue distribution or antigen presentation repertoire and have specific roles to play in the establishment of robust immunity.

Direct observation of presented peptides by mass spectrometry has become required for novel epitope discovery. This approach is the most physiologically relevant way to detect the modified and unmodified peptides presented by any type of MHC.

Additionally, mass spectrometry can be used to quantify the peptide presentation to ensure that attractive targets are sufficiently expressed to trigger an immune reaction. The limiting factor has now become the quality of the mass spectrometry data generated.

This presentation will show examples of direct identification of novel presented peptides as well as survey the requirements for the industrialization of antigen presentation mass spectrometry to generate robust, reliable and quantitative measurements.

With an understanding that antigen presentation is required to initiate an immune response, we will discuss how to use this information in therapeutics development. Designing a good immune therapy requires that the antigen is specific to the targeted pathology, as well as immunogenic.

Those factors are especially relevant for modern immune therapies that seek to engage the host response as part of the complete therapy. Antigen presentation by mass spectrometry should therefore be embedded in a broader, integrated, characterization of host immunity.

Specific characterizations include evaluation of wider host antigen presentation to assess target specificity, monitoring the status of the host microenvironment, as well as host immune exhaustion before and after antigen dosing to better understand the capacity to respond to the therapy.

This presentation will depict case studies addressing each of these components of successful immune therapy candidates that start with successful antigen presentation.

Antigen presentation is the initial critical element, but for successful immune therapy development, antigen presentation should be embedded in an integrated assessment of host immunity

Speaker: Eustache Paramithiotis PhD, Vice-President, Research & Development, Caprion Biosciences Inc.