Dr Michael Dustin has entered into a research collaboration agreement with Cue Biopharma, Inc. a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that is engineering a novel class of injectable biological treatments designed to selectively seek out and modify targeted T cells within the body.
Viewed as an exciting next step towards the targeted treatment of both solid and blood cancers, the research collaboration aims to determine the interaction of IL-2, a molecule known to stimulate the immune system with Cue Biopharma's CUE-100 series Immuno-STAT™ (Selective Targeting and Alteration of T cells) Biologics.
"We look forward to working with Cue Biopharma on this innovative and promising new technology," said Michael. "We have long appreciated the effects of IL-2 on the immunological synapse, and this research collaboration will allow us to systematically study effects of natural IL-2 and the engineered Immuno-STAT to define potential features of the Immuno-STAT platform that may be driving the selective and preferential modulation of T cells."
Saso Cemerski, senior director of immuno-oncology discovery and translational immunology at Cue Biopharma said: "Dr. Dustin, the scientific pioneer and founder of the T cell immune synapse field has made seminal observations contributing toward our understanding of the biophysical interactions and signaling pathways that underscore immune cell activation, including the mechanistic underpinnings of T cell recognition of antigens. Our strategic collaboration will exploit the state-of-the art technologies pioneered by Dr. Dustin's lab to elucidate the immune synapse interactions of our IL-2-based CUE-100 series that ultimately result in selective and specific activation of tumor-antigen-specific T cells."