Targeted anti-cancer therapies are the future of cancer treatment. Immunotherapy is booming, and antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) are a fast growing class of therapeutics. These consist of a cytotoxic drug connected to an antibody that targets a tumor marker. Although much research is aimed at elements of ADCs such as the drug payload or constructing nanobodies, the international research program TACT is bringing all aspects of this research together, from fundamental chemistry to the initial stages of biological assessment. ICI-partner WUR is involved.
The EU-project TACT combines state-of-the-art research in antibody-drug conjugates with extensive training of new researchers. (Image: TACT)

Herpes viruses can invade the nervous system and stay there unnoticed for a long time, before causing disease. But not much is known about the interactions between the virus and the nerve cells. Sabrina Krepel finds out using advanced techniques such as mass spectrometry and electron microscopy.

Microglia play a crucial role in neuronal diseases such as MS or Alzheimer's. But there is a large gap in knowledge about the processes involving microglia and the development of these and other neurological disorders. Without understanding of the fundamentals, there is no chance of a cure. PhD student Viktor al-Naqib at NIN studies these fundamentals in cooperation with chemical immunologists in Leiden.

Thermal peptide exchange technology. The term sounds like a simple lab protocol. But at a closer look it's a perfect example of multidisciplinary, multi-group research where a fundamental background, a good idea and an interest in technology lead to new insights and relevant medical applications. What started as an idea from the labs of Sjaak Neefjes and Huib Ovaa has now grown into a user-friendly method for screening immune cell responses to any antigen, developed in a collaboration between multiple research groups. (Image: Jolien Luimstra)

UbiQ was founded in 2010 as a spin-off of the Ovaa-lab at the Netherlands Cancer Institute. The small company develops reagents for ubiquitin research and is involved occasionally in drug discovery projects, says co-founder Farid El Oualid. "Our mission is ultimately to help patients. With UbiQ, we aim to explore all possible drug targets using our technology, and to facilitate others to do their research by providing reagents."

It's an unconventional ICI-project in many ways. LUMC researcher Aysegul Sapmaz wrote the proposal to study ubiquitylation of Rab-proteins back in 2019 together with Huib Ovaa and Sjaak Neefjes. She then moved on to do the research herself in close collaboration with PhD student, Esther ter Linden from the Neefjes group.

A superfamily of four-transmembrane proteins called tetraspanins are organizers of the membranes of immune cells. Although ubiquitous, understanding the precise role of some of these tetraspanins in the complement system is the challenge in this combined project in Utrecht and Leiden.

An imbalance between two types of T cells causes problems in autoimmune diseases and cancer. A selective intervention in the activity of these cells could be a therapeutic strategy, but the question is: how? Researchers in Utrecht and Leiden are finding unique metabolic features that discriminate between the two types.