Therapeutics

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Researchers at Vanderbilt University have developed a technique to enhance immune cell activation by exposing cells to mechanical force while culturing. Proof-of-concept data indicate that activating immune cells with this method may improve therapeutic efficacy and reduce manufacturing expenses, making powerful CAR T cell therapies more accessible to patients in need.

Probiotic supplements undergo significant water loss before consumption, killing many of their bacteria and rendering them less effective. Vanderbilt researchers have discovered a protein that protects against damage caused by desiccation and shown that this molecular shield can be added to probiotics to help them survive and colonize the gut. This platform technology can be broadly incorporated into new or existing supplements to make them more efficacious and even improve costs and distribution.

New compounds developed at Vanderbilt demonstrate a unique mechanism of broad spectrum activity to stymy antibacterial resistance. The compounds are particularly useful in chronic infections where long term antibiotic therapy fails, because it specifically kills "small colony variants" -- the bacteria that have developed resistance mechanisms. These compounds show promise in treating Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), Bacillus anthracis (anthrax), and in overcoming difficult-to-treat infections in bone in cystic fibrosis patients. These compounds could be combined with new (and old) antimicrobial drugs to outwit resistant bacterial infections.