Protein-polymer conjugates are widely used in biotechnology and medicine, and new methods to prepare the bioconjugates would be advantageous for these applications. In this report, we demonstrate that bioactive "smart" polymer conjugates can be synthesized by polymerizing from defined initiation sites on proteins, thus preparing the polymer conjugates in situ. In particular, free cysteines, Cys-34 of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and Cys-131 of T4 lysozyme V131C, were modified with initiators for atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) either through a reversible disulfide linkage or irreversible bond by reaction with pyridyl disulfide- and maleimide-functionalized initiators, respectively. Initiator conjugation was verified by electrospray-ionization mass spectroscopy (ESI-MS), and the location of the modification was confirmed by muLC-MSMS (tandem mass spectrometry) analysis of the trypsin-digested protein macroinitiators. Polymerization of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAm) from the protein macroinitiators resulted in thermosensitive BSA-polyNIPAAm and lysozyme-polyNIPAAm in greater than 65% yield. The resultant conjugates were characterized by gel electrophoresis and size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and easily purified by preparative SEC. The identity of polymer isolated from the BSA conjugate was confirmed by (1)H NMR, and the polydispersity index was determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) to be as low as 1.34. Lytic activities of the lysozyme conjugates were determined by two standard assays and compared to that of the unmodified enzyme prior to polymerization; no statistical differences in bioactivity were observed.

Zhu et al. report the identification of CD112R as a new coinhibitory receptor of the TIGIT–DNAM-1 family for human T cells.

Abstract5-Fluorouracile, oxaliplatin, irinotecan, and leucovorin (FOLFIRINOX) has not been extensively used in the neoadjuvant setting because of concerns with safety and toxicity. We evaluated our institutional experience with neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX in borderline resectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma (BRPAC). The primary endpoints were completion of therapy to surgery and negative resection margin (R0) rate.Patients with BRPAC treated with neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX were retrospectively analyzed. Between August 2011 and September 2013, 20 patients with BRPAC treated with neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX were identified.Most patients (88.8%) completed FOLFIRINOX therapy and underwent resection. Abutment of venous structures was identified in 13 cases (72.2%), while short segment portal vein encasement in 3 cases (16.6%) with concomitant arterial involvement in 3 cases (16.6%). Isolated superior mesenteric artery abutment was identified in 2 cases (11.2%). Patients received a median of 4 cycles of FOLFIRINOX. There was 1 case of progression. Vascular resection was performed in 9 cases (52.9%). Preoperative radiation therapy was used in 8 patients (44%). All patients underwent margin negative resection (R0). Histopathologic treatment response was evident in 10 cases (58.8%).Neoadjuvant FOLFIRINOX was generally safe and the expected toxicity did not prevent surgery allowing for a high rate of R0 resection.