Biomed Briefs

Beyond the blood-brain barrier

Finding a cure for HIV has been extremely difficult, in part because the virus hides from antiretroviral treatments in one of the hardest-to-reach places: the brain. Texas Biomed Associate Professor Binhua “Julie” Ling, MD, PhD, and her collaborators are working on a treatment that can pass through the protective blood-brain barrier, and cut out the virus from infected brain cells. They will use the latest gene-editing technology, CRISPR, combined with old-school virology techniques. The National Institutes of Health provided a five-year, $3.9 million grant to advance the research. If lab and preclinical animal studies show promising results, the treatment could progress to human clinical trials.

Promising bladder cancer treatment

A modified tuberculosis (TB) vaccine developed at Texas Biomed could help treat a form of bladder cancer, called non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. The Mycobacterium bovis bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine, developed for TB in the 1920s, has been used to treat this type of cancer since the late 1970s. It is highly effective, but up to 84% of patients cannot tolerate the strong side effects. Texas Biomed Professor Jordi B. Torrelles, PhD, and his team have removed some lipids from the outer layer of bacteria cells in the vaccine. Studies in mouse models and human cells showed the modified vaccine produces a well-regulated immune response but minimizes severe inflammation and tissue damage. The research, conducted in close collaboration with UT Health San Antonio, was published in Cancer Immunology, Immunotherapy. The group is excited to proceed to human clinical trials.

Diversifying next-gen TB vaccines

Tuberculosis is battling with COVID-19 for the dubious distinction as the world’s leading killer by a single infectious agent. More effective TB vaccines are desperately needed. Texas Biomed Adjunct Associate Professor Gillian Beamer, VMD, PhD, DACVP, received a phased National Institutes of Health grant for up to $3.5 million to develop and test new TB vaccines. Partners at The Access to Advanced Health Institute (AAHI), a nonprofit research institute in Seattle, Washington, will develop various vaccine candidates, which will be tested at Texas Biomed. The research will rely on a unique group of lab mice that better represent genetic diversity of the human population. This diversity will help identify vaccines that protect those most vulnerable to TB.