Modulating the immune response to cancer & using metabolic routes in leukemia to our advantage

TheoryLab

In this episode, Gustavo Martinez, PhD, and Daniel Herranz, PhD, discussed their new cancer research publications. Dr. Martinez talked about his research into how T cells respond in the context of cancer, and Dr. Herrera explained his lab’s findings related to targeting cancer metabolism in leukemia. Gustavo Martinez, PhD, is Assistant Professor at Rosalind Franklin University. He received American Cancer Society funding to support his research into T cell exhaustion and boosting our immune system’s response against cancer. Daniel Herranz, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Pharmacology at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. His ACS-funded research focuses on T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The first half of the conversation is more technical and is directed towards a scientific audience. The second part, starting at 17:27, is for all audiences. 1:38 – Dr. Martinez on the focus of his lab and takeaways from his recent publication in The Journal of Immunology titled, “Kdm6b Regulates the Generation of Effector CD8+ T Cells by Inducing Chromatin Accessibility in Effector-Associated Genes:” https://www.jimmunol.org/content/early/2021/04/16/jimmunol.2001459 4:40 – What are some next steps? Are there downstream targets that could be activated? 7:54 – Dr. Herranz talks about why he’s interested in targeting cancer metabolism in leukemia and shares findings published in his recent paper in Blood, “A novel and highly effective mitochondrial uncoupling drug in T-cell leukemia:” https://ashpublications.org/blood/article-abstract/doi/10.1182/blood.2020008955/475782/A-novel-and-highly-effective-mitochondrial 12:00 – Dr. Martinez asks about his thoughts regarding combination therapy 14:49 – Differences in immune response in younger patients 17:27 – Dr. Herranz provides a nice explanation of how his lab couples basic biology with a therapeutic approach 18:35 – Dr. Martinez explains his lab’s focus on modulating our own immune system’s response against the tumor cells 19:44 – They discuss the impact of ACS funding on their research and careers 23:07 – On improving diversity in cancer research and introducing younger students to science