NanoString Technologies, Inc., a company providing tools for translational research and molecular diagnostic products, has announced the introduction of a new highly multiplexed gene expression panel for the nCounter® Analysis System, the PanCancer Immune Profiling Panel.
This new state-of-the-art technology will allow researchers to create profiles of immune responses to all types of cancers, a tool that could potentially enable drug discovery and development, therapies and specific biomarker signatures for selective immunotherapies.
NanoString’s PanCancer Immune Profiling Panel is designed to help researchers develop advanced strategies in key research areas, such as targeting of checkpoint blockades, development of chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) for T-cell therapy, and the identification of adjuvants for stimulating the immune response in the tumor microenvironment.
This novel panel includes a library of 770 genes, including more than 100 genes associated with 24 different immune cell types, 30 genes specific for cancer antigens, genes involved with checkpoint blockade, and immune pathway genes for both innate adaptive (T cells) and humoral (B cells) immune responses.
The PanCancer Immune Profiling Panel can be used in addition to NanoString’s PanCancer Pathways Panel, which has the capacity to analyze all of the major cancer pathways, such as PI3K, STAT, MAPK, TGFβ, Notch, Hedgehog, Wnt, Apoptosis, Cell Cycle, RAS, Chromatin Modification, Transcriptional Regulation and DNA Damage Control.
By combining these two tools, researchers can understand different immune responses to cancer as well as gene expression modifications resultant from tumor cells.
The panels can be used on different types of samples, such as formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded, whole blood or peripheral blood mononuclear cells and cell lysates.
“NanoString’s PanCancer Immune Profiling Panel is an exceptional collection of genes that encompasses the many characteristics of the immune response and will undoubtedly provide valuable insights for all types of cancer research. By studying gene expression patterns across immune cell types, cancer antigens, checkpoint blockades, and genes involved with both the innate and adaptive immune response, researchers will now be able to construct an in-depth profile for how the host immune system is responding to cancer,” Dr. Jérôme Galon, Research Director at INSERM Laboratory, Cordeliers Research Center in Paris, France and one of the panel developers, said in a company press release.
“The PanCancer Immune Profiling Panel complements our recently launched PanCancer Pathways Panel and brings a new dimension of gene expression information to a field that has historically been focused on protein-based analytical methods, such as immunohistochemistry. Our collaboration with Dr. Galon has greatly helped guide the development of this new panel that will enable researchers to bridge the gap between what drives tumor growth, and what attempts to control tumor growth, in order to promote a better understanding of immuno-oncology,” Joseph Beechem, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Research and Development at NanoString Technologies concluded in the press release.
