Using Flow Cytometry to Quantify Antigen Presentation on Pediatric Brain Tumors
Mentor 1
Chris Quinn
Start Date
28-4-2023 12:00 AM
Description
The current knowledge of cell surface components of pediatric brain tumors are well detailed but not entirely understood. There is an acute awareness of GD2, L1CAM, PDGFRa, EphA2, IL13Ra2, HER2, B7H3, and CD133, which are antigens that are regularly screened for. Specifically, GD2 is being screened for as a determinant for anti-GD2 immunotherapy for pediatric brain tumor patients. GD2 is normally highly expressed in these tumor types and thus are considered for immunotherapy treatments. Seeing that gangliosides, GD2 and GD3, are antigens that have been found to act as immunosuppressors on cell surfaces (Liu et al., 2018). Gangliosides encourage adhesion of tumor cells and thus increase tumor metastasis. Some emerging literature is suggesting that GD3 should be an antigen of interest when it comes to developing immunotherapy options. Considering that GD3 is the precursor to GD2 in the synthetic pathway of gangliosides this would lead researchers to believe that there is high potential for an high GD3 expression in tumors where GD2 is commonly found. Although, there still is a lack of information showing GD3 involvement in pediatric brain tumor cells. The purpose of this study is to prove that GD3 expression is prominent in various pediatric brain tumors in order to determine if there are other immunotherapeutic options that could be available to patients with positive GD3 tumor types. This study will utilize mass spectrometry, a sophisticated instrument that has the ability to quantify the molecular components of biochemical substances || and method of analysis for studying molecular composition of cells. (It has a quantification ability and doesn’t need antibodies) Mass spectrometry is important to be utilized for this experiment because unlike other molecular quantification methods like flow Cytometry, mass spectrometry does not require antibodies in order to read cell expressions.
Using Flow Cytometry to Quantify Antigen Presentation on Pediatric Brain Tumors
The current knowledge of cell surface components of pediatric brain tumors are well detailed but not entirely understood. There is an acute awareness of GD2, L1CAM, PDGFRa, EphA2, IL13Ra2, HER2, B7H3, and CD133, which are antigens that are regularly screened for. Specifically, GD2 is being screened for as a determinant for anti-GD2 immunotherapy for pediatric brain tumor patients. GD2 is normally highly expressed in these tumor types and thus are considered for immunotherapy treatments. Seeing that gangliosides, GD2 and GD3, are antigens that have been found to act as immunosuppressors on cell surfaces (Liu et al., 2018). Gangliosides encourage adhesion of tumor cells and thus increase tumor metastasis. Some emerging literature is suggesting that GD3 should be an antigen of interest when it comes to developing immunotherapy options. Considering that GD3 is the precursor to GD2 in the synthetic pathway of gangliosides this would lead researchers to believe that there is high potential for an high GD3 expression in tumors where GD2 is commonly found. Although, there still is a lack of information showing GD3 involvement in pediatric brain tumor cells. The purpose of this study is to prove that GD3 expression is prominent in various pediatric brain tumors in order to determine if there are other immunotherapeutic options that could be available to patients with positive GD3 tumor types. This study will utilize mass spectrometry, a sophisticated instrument that has the ability to quantify the molecular components of biochemical substances || and method of analysis for studying molecular composition of cells. (It has a quantification ability and doesn’t need antibodies) Mass spectrometry is important to be utilized for this experiment because unlike other molecular quantification methods like flow Cytometry, mass spectrometry does not require antibodies in order to read cell expressions.
