research Briefs
From Plant Virus to Cancer Vaccine A team of researchers at Dartmouth’s and Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s Norris Cotton Cancer Center, led by Steven N. Fiering, PhD, has identified pathways through which cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV), a plant virus that does not infect mammals, is recognized by the immune system. This discovery opens the door for a new biological drug for the treatment of cancer. CPMV is recognized by the immune system as a potential pathogen—any infectious agent that can cause disease. When tumors are injected with CPMV, molecules in the immune system send a warning signal of the invasion, which is heard by the “ears” of the immune system called toll-like receptors. The toll-like receptors then mobilize immune cells to attack the pathogen—and along with it, the tumor. Commercial development of CPMV as a cancer treatment is in progress by Mosaic ImmunoEngineering Inc., a biotech company co-founded by Fiering and Nicole Steinmetz, PhD, of University of California San Diego, with a team of scientists and entrepreneurs. Early-phase trials of CPMV in humans are planned to start in early 2022.
Steven Fiering, PhD, is a member of the Immunology and Cancer Immunotherapy Research Program at Norris Cotton Canceer Center and a professor of microbiology and immunology at the Geisel School of Medicine.
New Ways to Understand Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder A study of brain tissue from patients afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has uncovered new information about the disorder, and is poised to change how PTSD is understood and guide future treatment development. In research spanning several years, Matthew J. Friedman, MD, PhD, and his colleagues found that the brains of people with PTSD had “extensive remodeling” of the normal operations by which genetic information is coded, impacting everything from neural transmission to metabolism to inflammation. “This study is the first of many to come that are going to change the field of PTSD research,” Friedman said. “Unfortunately, our emerging understanding of the psychobiology of PTSD has not led to the development of effective medications for the disorder. We haven’t even seen a new drug developed for the treatment of PTSD in 20 years. Our team’s findings offer new clues about the causes of PTSD, the possibility of improved treatment, and most importantly, hope for people who live with this terrible disorder.” Matthew J. Friedman, MD, PhD, is a psychiatrist at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, a professor of psychiatry at the Geisel School of Medicine, and director of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD Brain Bank.
GIVING IN ACTION | FALL 2021 • 23
