Video: Gaining New Insights on Cellular Response Using Simple Plex
Video Summary
Dr. Jean Dunne shares key insights from her research on cytokine measurement for evaluating cellular responses in clinical and research settings. She highlights the advantages of the Simple Plex™ Assay on the Ella™ Platform, emphasizing its ability to precisely measure multiple cytokines with minimal sample volume.
Drawing from her experience, Dr. Dunne discusses transitioning a research-use-only (RUO) product into a clinical setting, underscoring the importance of a large dynamic range, ease of use, and multi-analyte capabilities.
Her research provides new perspectives on inflammatory cytokine responses, showcasing the value of a scalable and highly translatable cytokine release assay with minimal setup. Additionally, Dr. Dunne compares various measurement methods, offering practical insights into their performance and applications.
Meet Ella
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Hello and welcome to Teach Me in 10.
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In this discussion,
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Dr. Jean Dunne shares valuable insights
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gleaned from her research
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measuring cytokines
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to assess
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cellular responses
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in clinical and research settings.
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And we'll be looking
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at unlocking cellular response
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with Simple Plex technology.
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So without further ado,
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let's get into the episode.
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Hi Jean,
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welcome to Teach Me in 10.
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So as we only have 10 minutes,
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we best get started.
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And my first question for you has to be
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can you briefly outline your research
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focus: understanding
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cellular response
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and its implications
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for disease-modifying drugs?
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Hello, Lucy.
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Yes, absolutely.
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So we're interested
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in the cellular response
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in common viruses
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and how they relate to diseases
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such as multiple sclerosis,
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which is a research focus of ours.
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So currently, research
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into viral association
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in multiple
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sclerosis has focused
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on the Epstein–Barr virus, or EBV.
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And this is a very common virus
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which most people easily deal
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with in childhood or adolescence.
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It's called infectious mononucleosis
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or kissing disease.
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Okay,
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so what happens
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is that the virus is controlled
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by immune cells
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which patrol and deal with any exposures.
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And a very large study,
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so I think there were 10 million
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samples included
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from US
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military personnel,
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identified new adult infection
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with Epstein–Barr
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(EBV)
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as a prerequisite
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for subsequent development of MS.
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So that links MS
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causally
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with Epstein–Barr disease.
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And that study measured
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antibody responses.
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Now, we've carried out
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a subsequent study that's been happily
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published this year, in 2024,
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and our study looked
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at the cellular responses
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to Epstein–Barr in patients with MS.
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So, we looked at various
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therapies
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that are used to treat patients with MS
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and we looked at the impact
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of these therapies on the cytokine
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responses of immune cells
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that respond to Epstein–Barr.
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The piece of Epstein–Barr
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that we focused on is called
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EBNA-1
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or Epstein–Barr
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nuclear-associated antigen 1. Perfect.
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So then from that,
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how have you developed
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the in-house cytokine release
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immunoassays? And how are these
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aiding clinical researchers
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in studying inflammatory cytokine response?
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So we based the
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assays on
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tests that we routinely use
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for latent TB.
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It's called the interferon
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gamma release assay.
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And these assays
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are commercially supplied in a kit
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with TB antigens. Blood is added,
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patient blood, it's incubated
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overnight
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and an ELISA is
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used to measure interferon gamma.
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So the in-house assays that we develop
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use viral
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peptides
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or whole recombinant antigens.
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Now, they can be from any source
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but the ones obviously that we used in
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the MS
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studies are EBNA-1
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from Epstein–Barr.
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So these are added to whole blood
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and cultured overnight
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and then the
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cytokines produced by the blood cells
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are then measured in the supernatant.
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And this is a very flexible assay system
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and Ella provides
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the great advantage of multiplex
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cytokine measurement on a single sample.
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I see.
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So what were the main challenges
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in creating these diagnostic tests
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and what kind of key
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lessons were learned?
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Well, for
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us, the main
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challenge is optimizing the assay.
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So that means establishing
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the amount of antigen
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that's required to elicit a response
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and then, after that, deciding
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on the appropriate cytokines to measure.
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So it's important
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to be able to identify a responder group
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to establish the assay because
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you have to have a positive
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and perhaps a negative control.
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And these can be healthy controls
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or they may be part of your disease
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cohort, as in the MS study.
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So a key lesson for us
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was to conduct a pilot study,
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including reasonable numbers
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of healthy controls, and
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within the patient cohort
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to identify subgroups.
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For example, in the MS study
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we didn't
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initially include treatment
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naive patients,
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because they were fewer in numbers,
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but eventually this cohort proved
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to be essential for comparison.
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They were our baseline comparator.
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So another key lesson is to identify
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the cytokine signature
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of the cellular response
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you wish to measure.
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For T cell responses,
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we used interferon gamma
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and IL-2, eventually.
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But when we conducted pilot studies,
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we included a number of other
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T cell-associated
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and innate-associated cytokines,
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and in an ideal world,
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a broad range of cytokines
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would be measured
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but cost is a limiting factor,
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I'm afraid,
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in reality. Absolutely.
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So what would you say
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are the essential capabilities
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you seek in immunoassay
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platforms for diagnostic monitoring?
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Well, reproducibility is essential.
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We need a low coefficient of variation
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for inter- and intra-assay comparisons
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because we need to be able
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to rely on the results
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over a period of testing. A wide
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dynamic range is a great advantage
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and a wide range of sample types
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such as plasma, serum,
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stimulation supernatants
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and perhaps cerebrospinal fluid.
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Also, for our purposes,
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a wide range of cytokines, chemokines
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or other biomarkers to be available
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for testing on that platform,
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because that gives us
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a great possibility
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in what we look for.
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Ease of use, with minimal
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requirement for operator intervention
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during testing, is obviously
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a great advantage
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and short
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setup times and short
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daily and monthly maintenance.
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Another
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capability would be
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low volume of samples
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because these are often
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precious samples,
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and quick time from initial sample
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testing to results generation,
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because we're anxious to gather results
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and obviously good
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engineering support and training.
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Absolutely.
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And then, from that,
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how do patients benefit
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from using the Simple Plex
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platform on the Ella instrument
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for cytokine measurement?
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Well, all care is patient-centered
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and it should be personalized.
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And on the Ella platform,
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the ease,
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reproducibility and speed
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of measurement of the cytokines
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makes it possible to upscale
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and translate these assays
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which are essentially
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a research assay,
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but then they need to be translated
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into use in the clinical laboratory.
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So the Ella platform has enabled us
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to develop
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novel assays
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to measure these individual responses.
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We've been able to look at various
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cytokine responses
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in a dynamic system,
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allowing us to choose the cytokines
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that best represent the cellular processes
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we want to measure.
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And the initial studies
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pave the way for things
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like longitudinal studies,
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looking at response to treatment
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and possibly
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predicting changes required in dosage
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or treatment type.
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Nice.
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So what are the strengths
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and weaknesses of the Ella
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instrument,
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particularly regarding its capacity
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for measuring
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multiple cytokines
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on limited samples
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and its high sensitivity
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and reproducibility?
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Well, as you say,
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there are great advantages in being able
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to measure
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a range of cytokines
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on a small, precious sample,
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and this is especially true
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when developing and optimizing assays
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that we will translate
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to the diagnostic and monitoring service.
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So a single-step test
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for a range of cytokines saves time
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and human resources
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and it produces
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a huge amount of information
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that we can
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then analyze
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to identify the most useful measures,
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so the most appropriate
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cytokines in our MS study.
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So the sensitivity and reproducibility
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are also essential in order
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to be able to trust results.
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You need to be able to trust that
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if you test it today
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and if you test it in 10 weeks,
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it will be the same.
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And also,
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we need to trust them
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because these results will change
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as we do longitudinal studies
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in each patient,
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it may be change in response to disease
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development or in response to treatment.
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A disadvantage is the in-house
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assay should be translatable into an IVD
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or CE-marked product
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to enable us to use it
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in the clinical diagnostics setting.
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And this is something
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that needs investment
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of both time and resources.
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I see.
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So I'd love
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if you could share your experience
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in creating a novel
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cytokine release assay
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and the significance
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of using a platform
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that offers this fast,
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hands-free operation.
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Absolutely.
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So, most people with multiple sclerosis
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have high antibodies to a latent
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particle of EBV called EBNA-1.
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And, as I said,
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previous studies have used this
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antibody to demonstrate
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Epstein–Barr reactivation.
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However, when we looked
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at these antibodies,
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we showed that
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they didn't change
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in response to therapies
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that are used for MS,
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so antibody levels
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can't be used to monitor
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treatment responses in patients.
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In contrast,
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when we looked at the
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when we developed the cellular assays
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and we looked at the cellular responses
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to EBNA-1
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using interferon gamma and IL-2
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multiplexes on the Ella,
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we showed that
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the majority of new patients
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had a cellular response to EBNA-1
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and these are the treatment naive cohort,
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so they've never been treated.
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And this response, this cytokine response
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to EBNA-1
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was significantly decreased in patients
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treated with immunosuppressive
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and anti-B cell therapies.
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And these therapies
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mostly work by suppressing
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the inflammatory response or
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by eliminating immune cells.
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So they're two types of treatment.
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And a different
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therapy, natalizumab or
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Tysabri, works
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by preventing the cells
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from crossing the blood–brain barrier.
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Okay, so in that case,
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all of the MS patients were shown
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to have a high interferon gamma
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and IL-2 response to EBNA-1
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and this indicated
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that the cells were held
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in the peripheral compartment,
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so they're held in the bloodstream,
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and they don't cross over the blood–brain
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barrier to create damage
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in the central nervous system.
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And these are all
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actually really novel findings that,
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you know,
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are enabled
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by the
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use of the Ella platform.
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So we
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were able to measure
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a range of cytokines in the pilot study.
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The supernatants were small, around
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200 microliters.
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So the panel design
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capability and multiplexing,
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together
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with the range of available
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cytokines, was really useful
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for the initial pilot.
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And the results identified
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the relevant cytokines
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that we went on to test in
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the full cohort.
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So the short preparation time
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and the reliability
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and the speed of results – for us,
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00:11:10,624 --> 00:11:12,537
we were very happy to get quick results –
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you know, makes the Ella
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a great platform,
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most especially
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for the multiplex parameters. In general,
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00:11:21,031 --> 00:11:22,978
there were very few assay failures,
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and there was very low
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00:11:23,750 --> 00:11:25,462
inter- and intra-assay
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coefficient of variability.
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In our hands, less than 2%
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00:11:29,256 --> 00:11:31,270
for interferon gamma and IL-2,
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which is great. Wow.
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Yeah, it is very impressive. Incredible.
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00:11:34,493 --> 00:11:36,071
And then, finally, as we're
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00:11:36,071 --> 00:11:37,112
almost out of time,
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00:11:37,112 --> 00:11:38,656
what potential long-term
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00:11:38,656 --> 00:11:39,697
research advantages
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00:11:39,697 --> 00:11:40,670
come with employing
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00:11:40,670 --> 00:11:41,677
fast and efficient
401
00:11:41,677 --> 00:11:43,893
analytical techniques like this?
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00:11:43,893 --> 00:11:46,512
Well, the great advantage of the
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00:11:46,512 --> 00:11:48,996
Ella multiplex is that we can quickly
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00:11:48,996 --> 00:11:50,037
and reproducibly,
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00:11:50,037 --> 00:11:50,708
and that's important,
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00:11:50,708 --> 00:11:53,461
test a range of biomarkers,
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including cytokines and chemokines.
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And these precious primary samples
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00:11:57,490 --> 00:11:59,000
are in supernatants.
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00:11:59,000 --> 00:12:00,041
So as I said,
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00:12:00,041 --> 00:12:01,451
we've used these cellular assays
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00:12:01,451 --> 00:12:02,592
in the multiple sclerosis
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00:12:02,592 --> 00:12:03,835
study where we looked at EBNA-1
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00:12:03,835 --> 00:12:06,856
and the changes following treatments.
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00:12:06,890 --> 00:12:09,072
But this work will lead
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00:12:09,072 --> 00:12:10,582
onto longitudinal studies
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00:12:10,582 --> 00:12:12,127
where we'll follow patients
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00:12:12,127 --> 00:12:13,570
through disease flares
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00:12:13,570 --> 00:12:15,249
and treatment changes,
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00:12:15,249 --> 00:12:16,122
and the multiplex
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00:12:16,122 --> 00:12:17,129
capability of
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00:12:17,129 --> 00:12:18,539
Ella will allow us to test
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00:12:18,539 --> 00:12:20,117
large numbers of samples
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00:12:20,117 --> 00:12:21,493
easily and quickly.
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00:12:21,493 --> 00:12:24,045
We only use 5 ml of blood,
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00:12:24,045 --> 00:12:25,992
and this is much easier to take compared
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00:12:25,992 --> 00:12:28,073
to the cerebrospinal fluid
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00:12:28,073 --> 00:12:29,550
which requires a lumbar puncture
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00:12:29,550 --> 00:12:31,363
and an in-hospital procedure,
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00:12:31,363 --> 00:12:32,605
and that's the current
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00:12:32,605 --> 00:12:34,553
diagnostic biomarker
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00:12:34,553 --> 00:12:36,567
in multiple sclerosis.
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00:12:36,567 --> 00:12:39,387
So in other studies, you know, to expand
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00:12:39,387 --> 00:12:41,133
it, we've used SARS-CoV-2
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00:12:41,133 --> 00:12:42,442
peptides and antigens
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00:12:42,442 --> 00:12:42,912
to measure
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00:12:42,912 --> 00:12:44,423
cellular responses
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00:12:44,423 --> 00:12:47,713
pre- and post-vaccination in patients
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00:12:48,418 --> 00:12:49,693
that are immunosuppressed.
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00:12:49,693 --> 00:12:51,338
So these include patients
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00:12:51,338 --> 00:12:51,775
on
442
00:12:51,775 --> 00:12:53,218
immunosuppressive therapies
443
00:12:53,218 --> 00:12:55,535
and those with inborn errors of immunity,
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00:12:55,535 --> 00:12:57,918
so babies that are born with
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00:13:00,772 --> 00:13:01,813
defects in their immune
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00:13:01,813 --> 00:13:04,800
system. And these are an important group
447
00:13:04,901 --> 00:13:06,983
because they may need individualized
448
00:13:06,983 --> 00:13:08,560
vaccination regimens
449
00:13:08,560 --> 00:13:09,735
to ensure protection.
450
00:13:09,735 --> 00:13:11,683
They won't always be protected
451
00:13:11,683 --> 00:13:14,469
by the same regime
452
00:13:14,469 --> 00:13:17,457
as other cohorts.
453
00:13:17,692 --> 00:13:20,008
And we're currently extending the studies
454
00:13:20,008 --> 00:13:23,298
from the SARS-CoV-2 vaccination
455
00:13:23,466 --> 00:13:25,010
to look at other common vaccine
456
00:13:25,010 --> 00:13:28,032
responses in immunosuppressed patients.
457
00:13:28,032 --> 00:13:31,557
So that's been the potential
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00:13:31,859 --> 00:13:34,881
long-term research advantages for us.
459
00:13:35,116 --> 00:13:35,955
Perfect.
460
00:13:35,955 --> 00:13:36,123
Well,
461
00:13:36,123 --> 00:13:38,036
thank you so much for joining us here
462
00:13:38,036 --> 00:13:39,043
in this episode.
463
00:13:39,043 --> 00:13:40,923
It's been absolutely wonderful
464
00:13:40,923 --> 00:13:43,206
speaking with you. Well, thank you.
465
00:13:43,206 --> 00:13:44,180
It's been lovely
466
00:13:44,180 --> 00:13:47,201
to have your support and care.
467
00:13:47,470 --> 00:13:48,511
Thanks so much
468
00:13:48,511 --> 00:13:49,719
for joining us in this episode,
469
00:13:49,719 --> 00:13:50,693
because this episode
470
00:13:50,693 --> 00:13:52,170
has been brought to you by Bio-Techne.
471
00:13:52,170 --> 00:13:54,721
Bio-Techne is a global developer
472
00:13:54,721 --> 00:13:56,568
manufacturer and supplier
473
00:13:56,568 --> 00:13:57,575
of high quality
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reagents, analytical instruments
475
00:13:59,421 --> 00:14:01,469
and precision diagnostics.
476
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Whether you are at the cutting edge
477
00:14:02,778 --> 00:14:03,819
of academic research,
478
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translating basic discoveries
479
00:14:05,431 --> 00:14:06,706
to therapeutic leads
480
00:14:06,706 --> 00:14:07,915
or at a facility
481
00:14:07,915 --> 00:14:09,392
that requires the highest level
482
00:14:09,392 --> 00:14:10,836
of diagnostic testing,
483
00:14:10,836 --> 00:14:11,608
their award-winning
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tools and solutions
485
00:14:13,152 --> 00:14:14,092
empower scientists
486
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and clinicians
487
00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:16,778
to achieve reproducible
488
00:14:16,778 --> 00:14:18,591
and consistent results.
489
00:14:18,591 --> 00:14:19,698
Trusting Bio-techne
490
00:14:19,698 --> 00:14:21,041
means choosing confidence
491
00:14:21,041 --> 00:14:22,082
that every solution
492
00:14:22,082 --> 00:14:22,686
you use
493
00:14:22,686 --> 00:14:24,163
will help move you towards
494
00:14:24,163 --> 00:14:25,775
better answers.
495
00:14:25,775 --> 00:14:27,353
We've left some further resources below
496
00:14:27,353 --> 00:14:28,461
should you like to learn more.
497
00:14:28,461 --> 00:14:29,300
But thanks again
498
00:14:29,300 --> 00:14:30,576
for watching this episode
499
00:14:30,576 --> 00:14:32,892
and I hope we'll see you again very soon.