We have developed several devices for positioning organic molecules, molecular aggregates, cells, and single-cell organisms onto solid supports. These printers can create stable, functional protein arrays using an inexpensive technology. The cell printer allows us to create cell libraries as well as cellular assemblies that mimic their respective position in organs. The printers are derived from commercially available ink-jet printers that are modified to dispense protein or cell solutions instead of ink. We describe here the modifications to the print heads, and the printer hardware and software that enabled us to adapt the ink-jet printers for the manufacture of cell and protein arrays. The printers have the advantage of being fully automated and computer controlled, and allow for the high-throughput manufacture of protein and cell arrays. Anat Rec Part A 272A: 491-496, 2003.

Commercial ink-jet printers were used with little modification to deposit alkanethiols onto gold substrata and several proteins onto silica supports. The resulting patterns of alkanethiols form self-assembled layers comparable to those obtained by microcontact printing or solution adsorption. The method has been used successfully to create binary chemical gradients and patterns of tertiary functionality. The proteins form dense patterns on the substrates and seem to maintain their configuration as measured by their ability to bind their specific ligands. Four different proteins were printed simultaneously, allowing for positive and negative controls. This "drop-on-demand" printing method is an inexpensive, flexible alternative to current binary technologies of chemically functionalizing surfaces.

Although monoallelic expression (MAE) is a frequent genomic event in normal tissues, its role in tumorigenesis remains unclear. Here we carried out single-nucleotide polymorphism arrays on DNA and RNA from a large cohort of pediatric and adult brain tumor tissues to determine the genome-wide rate of MAE, its role in specific cancer-related genes, and the clinical consequences of MAE in brain tumors. We also used targeted genotyping to examine the role of tumor-related genes in brain tumor development and specifically examined the clinical consequences of MAE at TP53 and IDH1. The genome-wide rate of tumor MAE was higher than in previously described normal tissue and increased with specific tumor grade. Oncogenes, but not tumor suppressors, exhibited significantly higher MAE in high-grade compared with low-grade tumors. This method identified nine novel genes highly associated with MAE. Within cancer-related genes, MAE was gene specific; hTERT was most significantly affected, with a higher frequency of MAE in adult and advanced tumors. Clinically, MAE at TP53 exists only in mutated tumors and increases with tumor aggressiveness. MAE toward the normal allele at IDH1 conferred worse survival even in IDH1 mutated tumors. Taken together, our findings suggest that MAE is tumor and gene specific, frequent in brain tumor subtypes, and may be associated with tumor progression/aggressiveness. Further exploration of MAE at relevant genes may contribute to better understanding of tumor development and determine survival in brain tumor patients. Cancer Res; 72(3); 636-44. Ó2011 AACR.

We conducted a phase 1 clinical trial of anti-BCMA CAR T cells (CART-BCMA) with or without anti-CD19 CAR T cells (huCART19) in multiple myeloma (MM) patients responding to third- or later- line therapy (Phase A, N=10) or high-risk patients responding to first-line therapy (Phase B, N=20), followed by early lenalidomide or pomalidomide maintenance. We observed no high-grade CRS and only one instance of low-grade neurologic toxicity. Among 15 subjects with measurable disease, 10 exhibited PR or better; among 26 subjects responding to prior therapy, 9 improved their response category and 4 converted to MRD-negative CR/sCR. Early maintenance therapy was safe, feasible, and coincided in some patients with CAR T cell re-expansion and late-onset, durable clinical response. Outcomes with CART-BCMA + huCART19 were similar to CART-BCMA alone. Collectively, our results demonstrate favorable safety, pharmacokinetics, and antimyeloma activity of dual-target CAR T cell therapy in early lines of multiple myeloma treatment.

Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are untranslated RNA molecules that function to regulate the expression of numerous genes and associated biochemical pathways and cellular functions. NcRNAs include small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), microRNAs (miRNAs), PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). They participate in the regulation of all developmental processes and are frequently aberrantly expressed or functionally defective in disease. This Chapter will focus on the role of ncRNAs, in particular miRNAs and lncRNAs, in mammary gland development and disease.

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<div>Abstract<p>We conducted a phase I clinical trial of anti-BCMA chimeric antigen receptor T cells (CART-BCMA) with or without anti-CD19 CAR T cells (huCART19) in multiple myeloma (MM) patients responding to third- or later-line therapy (phase A, <i>N</i> = 10) or high-risk patients responding to first-line therapy (phase B, <i>N</i> = 20), followed by early lenalidomide or pomalidomide maintenance. We observed no high-grade cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and only one instance of low-grade neurologic toxicity. Among 15 subjects with measurable disease, 10 exhibited partial response (PR) or better; among 26 subjects responding to prior therapy, 9 improved their response category and 4 converted to minimal residual disease (MRD)–negative complete response/stringent complete response. Early maintenance therapy was safe, feasible, and coincided in some patients with CAR T-cell reexpansion and late-onset, durable clinical response. Outcomes with CART-BCMA + huCART19 were similar to CART-BCMA alone. Collectively, our results demonstrate favorable safety, pharmacokinetics, and antimyeloma activity of dual-target CAR T-cell therapy in early lines of MM treatment.</p>Significance:<p>CAR T cells in early lines of MM therapy could be safer and more effective than in the advanced setting, where prior studies have focused. We evaluated the safety, pharmacokinetics, and efficacy of CAR T cells in patients with low disease burden, responding to current therapy, combined with standard maintenance therapy.</p><p><i><a href="https://aacrjournals.org/bloodcancerdiscov/article/doi/10.1158/2643-3230.BCD-4-2-ITI" target="_blank">This article is highlighted in the In This Issue feature, p. 101</a></i></p></div>