RNA interference-related strategies have become appealing methods in various fields of research. Exact sequence design of these small molecules is an essential step in the silencing procedure. Numerous researchers have tried to define some algorithms in order to increase the chance of short interfering RNA's (siRNA's) success. In recent decades, online designing software has aimed at promoting the quality of siRNA designing based on the most cited algorithms. According to our previous experiments, a combination of different criteria would be helpful. That is, siRNAs suggested by a combination of tools seem to be more efficient. Furthermore, different factors such as distance of target region to transcription start site, nucleotide composition, absence of off-target effects and secondary structures in the target site and siRNA and the presence of asymmetry and energy valley within the siRNA will increase the efficiency of siRNAs. Despite application of different online tools and fulfilling the criteria, there is no guarantee for designing an effective siRNA. However, meticulous designing of siRNAs according to the suggested algorithms and scoring systems and using different siRNAs for targeting the same gene would lead to improved silencing outcome. In this review, we focus on common algorithms and online software, and introduce a new scoring system used in our experiments.
Neoepitopes or neoantigens are a spectrum of unique mutations presented in a particular patient’s tumor. Neoepitope-based adoptive therapies have the potential of tumor eradication without undue damaging effect on normal tissues. In this context, methods based on the T cell receptor (TCR) engineering or chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) have shown great promise. This review focuses on the TCR-like CARs and TCR-CARs directed against tumor-derived epitopes, with a concerted view on neoepitopes. We also address the current limitations of the field to know how to harness the full benefits of this approach and thereby design a sustained and specific antitumor therapy.
A subset of oncogenic human papillomaviruses (HPVs) is the main cause of genital cancers, most importantly cervical cancer and an increasing number of head and neck cancers. Despite the availability of prophylactic vaccines against the most prevalent oncogenic HPV types, HPV‐induced malignancies are still a major health and economic burden. Besides conventional treatment with surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, immunotherapy is emerging as an efficient adjuvant option. Here, we review relevant studies and ongoing clinical trials using immune checkpoint inhibitors, therapeutic vaccines, gene editing approaches and adoptive T cell therapies, with special focus on engineered TCR T cells, which are showing encouraging results and could lead to significant improvement in the treatment of HPV+‐infected cancer patients.
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