Exosomes are extracellular vesicles (EVs) released by living cells into biofluids to facilitate intercellular communication.
Exosomes have been shown to play critical roles in various disease processes including stimulating tumor cell growth and immune suppression.
The cargo carried by tumor-secreted vesicles (RNA, lipids, and proteins) is tightly regulated and has become an attractive target for biomarker research.
While the characterization and analysis of exosomes for diagnostic applications has gained a lot of traction in recent years, most candidate biomarkers do not end up translating into the clinic.
In this webinar, we will discuss the use of exosomes for monitoring cancer immunotherapy response and the need for standardized and reproducible assays for biomarker development.
Learning Objectives
- How exosomal PD-L1 contributes to immune suppression in metastatic melanoma and is implicated as a predictor of poor anti-PD-1 therapy outcome.
- Improving the reproducibility and validation of EV studies by following MISEV guidelines and ISEV recommendations.
- General considerations for exosomal isolation and detection platforms in diagnostics.
- The utility of exosomes for novel biomarker discovery and translation into successful clinical diagnostics including the first ever exosome-based liquid biopsy test to receive FDA breakthrough designation.
SPEAKERS
 |
|
Wei Guo, Ph.D
Class of 1965 Endowed Term Professor of Biology - University of Pennsylvania
|
|
Dr.
Wei Guo is a Class of 1965 Endowed Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and an internationally recognized cell biologist.
His lab is interested in the molecular mechanism of exosome biogenesis and secretion, and how exosomes contribute to tumor progression.
Taking a multidisciplinary approach that combines biochemistry, biophysics, genetics, structure biology and microscopic imaging, his laboratory has made discoveries that contributed to the molecular understanding of cancer metastasis, melanoma drug resistance, and tumor immune evasion.
|
 |
|
Kenneth Witwer, Ph.D
Associate Professor of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology - Johns Hopkins
|
|
Dr.
Kenneth W.
Witwer is an Associate Professor of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology and Neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
His research focuses on extracellular vesicles, RNA-mediated regulation, biomarker discovery, and therapeutic modulation of innate and intrinsic defenses.
His group is particularly interested in neurodegenerative diseases including the HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND), Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's Disease.
Dr.
Witwer has served as Secretary General and Executive Chair of Science and Meetings for the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV), the leading scientific organization in his field.
|
 |
|
Johan Skog, Ph.D
CSO, Vice President - Exosome Diagnostics, a Bio-techne brand
|
|
CSO, Vice President - Exosome Diagnostics, a Bio-techne brand Dr.
Johan Skog is the Chief Scientific Officer and founding scientist of Exosome Diagnostics (now a Bio-techne brand).
He has pioneered discoveries about exosomes and other microvesicles and their vital roles, both as cell messengers and disease proliferators.
While investigating tumor stem cells at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, he observed the exosome vesicles and became the first to show that tumor-derived mutations can be detected on exosome RNA (exoRNA) from serum and other biofluids.
He later also showed how these vesicles can be used therapeutically by incorporating gene therapy vectors into microvesicles as a “stealth” vector with changed tropisms.
Dr.
Skog is the inventor of several novel exosome isolation platforms that are used clinically, as well as exosome isolation platforms that were licensed to Qiagen.
Dr.
Skog has >138 applications/divisionals/or granted patents in the exosome field.
He continues to expand the research on exosome biology and lead critical advancements in diagnostics, including the world’s first exosome-based diagnostic tests that have now helped over 60,000 patients.
|
