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Medicine and Health Sciences

Theses and Dissertations

Breast Cancer

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Immunotherapy Of Cancer: Reprogramming Tumor/Immune Cellular Crosstalk To Improve Anti-Tumor Efficacy, Kyle K. Payne Jan 2015

Immunotherapy Of Cancer: Reprogramming Tumor/Immune Cellular Crosstalk To Improve Anti-Tumor Efficacy, Kyle K. Payne

Theses and Dissertations

Immunotherapy of cancer has been shown to be promising in prolonging patient survival. However, complete elimination of cancer and life-long relapse-free survival remain to be major challenge for anti-cancer therapeutics. We have previously reported that ex vivo reprogramming of tumor-sensitized immune cells by bryostatin 1/ionomycin (B/I) and the gamma-chain (γ-c) cytokines IL-2, IL-7, and IL-15 resulted in the generation of memory T cells as well as CD25+ NKT cells and CD25+ NK cells. Adoptive cellular therapy (ACT) utilizing these reprogrammed immune cells protected FVBN202 mice from tumor challenge, and overcame the suppressive functions of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). We then …


The Cytotoxic Effect Of The Bcl-2 Family Of Proteins In Breast Cancer Cells, Yamileth Chin Jan 2014

The Cytotoxic Effect Of The Bcl-2 Family Of Proteins In Breast Cancer Cells, Yamileth Chin

Theses and Dissertations

Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death amongst women ages 20 to 59. Despite advancements in cancer therapies, more research is necessary to improve the diagnoses and treatment of several types of breast cancer. Paclitaxel (Taxol) is a commonly utilized anti-cancer drug for various types of solid tumors. However, the molecular mechanism utilized by paclitaxel to induce cell death is still elusive. Previous studies in our laboratory have shown that the pro-apoptotic BCL-2 family protein, BAK (BCL-2 homologous antagonist/killer) plays an important role in paclitaxel-induced cell death. In untreated breast cancer cells, BAK is associated with the anti-apoptotic …


Adhesion Molecule Regulation Of Regulatory T Cell Migration, Jessica Jean Loppnow Aug 2013

Adhesion Molecule Regulation Of Regulatory T Cell Migration, Jessica Jean Loppnow

Theses and Dissertations

Regulatory T (Treg) cells mediate tumor immune evasion by suppressing anti-tumor effector T cell responses in peripheral lymphoid tissues and within the tumor. While elevated Treg cell numbers have been shown to correlate with increased tumor growth, mechanisms that regulate their distribution within secondary lymphoid tissue and tumor tissue are not well understood. L-selectin, an adhesion molecule constitutively expressed on all classes of leukocytes, functions early in the adhesion cascade and regulates the migration of lymphocytes to lymph nodes through high endothelial venules. In addition, L-selectin can mediate migration of lymphocytes to sites of inflammation by binding to ligands present …