Pharmaceutics Students Selected for AAPS Rapid Fire Presentations

We are thrilled to announce that four outstanding student proposals from our department have been accepted for presentation at the 2024 AAPS PharmSci 360 conference by the Rapid Fire Committee.

Shannuo Li’s (Kopecek/Yang) proposal, "Multi-Antigen T Cell Hybridizers for Personalized Treatment of MM," was selected for a Rapid Fire presentation. Multi-antigen T cell hybridizers (MATCH) is a novel and versatile approach to enhance the precision and efficacy of T cell-based immunotherapy for multiple myeloma. The research focuses on the efficacy and mechanisms of T cell induced cytotoxicity towards different multiple myeloma cell lines.

Jiahui Li’s  (Kopecek/Yang) submission, "Combination of Chemo-immunotherapy with N-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide-based Polymer Conjugates for Cancer Treatment," was also chosen for a Rapid Fire presentation. This research highlights the development and efficacy of a second-generation, long-circulating HPMA copolymer-epirubicin conjugate (KT-1) and its combination with an HPMA-based multivalent polymer-peptide anti-PD-L1 antagonist (MPPA) in treating cold tumors. By effectively inducing immunogenic cell death and redirecting PD-L1 to lysosomal degradation, this dual approach has shown significant improvements in responsiveness and treatment outcomes in both the 4T-1 murine triple-negative breast cancer model and B16F10-bearing C57BL/6 mice, offering a promising pathway for future therapeutic strategies.

Molly Major's (Owen) proposal is entitled "Instantaneous Drug Release Visualization Through the Novel Conjugated-Antibody Specificity Assay." Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) have transformed the field of targeted drug delivery systems; these systems use monoclonal antibodies for targeting, conjugated to cytotoxic drugs through a chemical linker. ADC success requires binding to the target receptor, internalizing the target cell, trafficking to the lysosome, cleavage of the linker, and finally, drug release. Failure at any of these steps results in an ineffective therapeutic. Currently, only confocal microscopy is used to visualize the internalization of ADCs and lysosomal trafficking; however, this method cannot investigate linker robustness, lysosomal enzyme-cleavage activity, or drug release rates, all of which are essential for the efficacy of an ADC. To fill this knowledge gap, we developed the Conjugated-Antibody Specificity Assay (CASA) to examine the internalization and drug release of ADCs using standard ADC synthesis techniques and a fluorescent plate reader. CASA can track the mechanism of antibody-drug conjugates in vitro with enzymes and in cellular environments. 

Morgan Marsh's (Owen) presentation "Engineering Split Enzyme Systems for Targeted Drug Delivery" will inform on engineering a split enzyme system for targeted drug delivery. The split system is an inactive enzyme that requires binding to a target site to refold into an active enzyme. Once the binding and refolding occur, the active enzyme can convert prodrugs into active drugs specifically at the target site. The dual binding event should increase specificity for a given target and the now active enzyme can convert more drug at the intended site. The split enzyme system has the potential to increase specificity and overall disease cell death.

The Rapid Fire Committee received and reviewed hundreds of exceptional proposals this year, making these selections a testament to the quality and impact of our student work. We look forward to their presentations at the conference in October!