The Protein Man's Blog | A Discussion of Protein Research

Spectrophotometric analysis, also called spectral scanning, of biomolecules serves two main purposes – the quantitation of nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) and purity assessment. Since the amount or concentration and purity of the DNA or RNA in a solution significantly affect the results of subsequent downstream applications, establishing these values early on can reduce, if not totally eliminate, the risk of committing errors and guarantee optimum results.

For years, chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has been successfully used in treating blood cancers (e.g., leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma) but, unfortunately, had been unable to replicate the results in solid tumors. This was the case until Innovative Cellular Therapeutics, a Shanghai-based biotechnology company involved in cell therapy research and development, came up with a potential CAR T-cell technology that claims to effectively reduce tumor size in patients with colorectal and thyroid cancer.

Exploring the Limitations of CAR T-Cells

While T-cells are tasked with the extremely important role of protecting the body against pathogens and cancer cells, they usually come short of fulfilling their role upon encountering solid tumors. This happens due to several reasons, which include (1) the lack of cancer-specific targets, (2) the T-cells’ limited ability to penetrate and survive in solid tumor sites, and (3) the presence of immunosuppressive factors within the hostile solid tumor microenvironment.

Fragmentation occurs when energetically unstable molecular atoms dissociate (either through homolytic or heterolytic cleavage) as they pass through the ionization chamber of a mass spectrometer. Here, the sample is bombarded with a stream of electrons powerful enough to remove an electron from the sample and form a positive ion (also called molecular or parent ion).