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IL-2 IDENTIFIED AS A GROWTH FACTOR FOR B CELLS
Researchers demonstrate that IL-2 is also a growth factor for B cells. -
CLONING OF CTLA-4
The gene for the human cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen (CTLA-4) is cloned. -
THE ROLE OF HUMAN TLR4 IN IMMUNE RESPONSE DISCOVERED
Charles A. Janeway and Ruslan Medzhitov demonstrate that human TLR4 can mediate the immune response. -
DISCOVERIES OF C-REL
Hsiou-Chi Liou and colleagues find that c-Rel, a lymphoid-specific member of the NF-kappaB/Rel family of transcriptional factors, is essential for B lymphocyte survival and cell cycle progression,[i] and that it is important for inducible cytokine and cytokine receptor expression and a key regulator of early activation and proliferation in T cells.[ii] -
CRYSTAL STRUCTURE OF A T CELL RECEPTOR DETERMINED
Ellis L. Reinherz and colleagues determine the crystal structure of a T cell receptor in complex with peptide and MHC class II. -
DISCOVERIES ON THE GENE TH-POK
Dietmar J. Kappes discovers a mouse with a mutation in a master regulator gene controlling T cell fate. Six years later, he identifies the gene as Th-POK, and later shows that its disregulation causes lymphoid transformation. This finding is significant in linking how cells develop with how cancers develop. -
THERAPEUTIC VACCINE CURES PRECANCEROUS GYNECOLOGICAL DISEASE
A therapeutic vaccine, developed by Cornelis (Kees) Melief and Sjoerd Van Der Burg at Leiden University Medical Center, demonstrates durable complete responses in some women with HPV-16+ vulvar intraepithelial neoplasias (VINs), a disease that normally has a spontaneous regression rate of less than 2 percent. -
TET PROTEINS ALTER GENE EXPRESSION IN STEM CELLS AND CANCER
Anjana Rao and colleagues Mamta Tahiliani and L. Aravind discover the enzymatic activity of TET proteins as iron and 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases that oxidise 5-methylcytosine in DNA, thus altering gene expression in stem cells, cancers, and the brain among others. Loss-of-function mutations in TET2 are shown to be frequent in myelodysplastic syndromes and myeloproliferative neoplasms including chronic myelomonocytic and acute myeloid lymphomas. -
FDA APPROVES NIVOLUMAB FOR HEAD AND NECK CANCER
The FDA granted accelerated approval to pembrolizumab (Keytruda), an anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor, for patients with recurrent or metastatc head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). -
FDA APPROVES PEMBROLIZUMAB FOR ADULT AND PEDIATRIC LYMPHOMA
The FDA granted accelerated approval to pembrolizumb (Keytruda), an anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor, for both adult and pediatric patients with refractory or relapsed classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL).
