Edmond Yunis to speak at Antibody Conference June 7-8, 2012 in San Diego, CA

Monrovia, CA -- (SBWire) -- 05/02/2012 --Edmond Yunis, Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School and Chief of Immunogenetics at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute will give a featured presentation on “Humoral Mechanisms and Molecular Signatures of Latent Tuberculosis Infection” at GTC’s Antibody Design and Discovery Conference (June 7-8, 2012 in San Diego, CA)

Innate and adaptive cell-mediated immunity (CMI) play a pivotal role in the response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection in experimental models and humans. Humoral immunity is involved in the protection and control of Mtb infection by specific antibodies (neutralizing toxins, promote opsonization and modulation of complement-mediated lysis). High titers of IgG anti-tuberculin antibodies and up-regulation of IL-17 mRNA are signatures of high risk LTBI. Future functional studies need to focus in the mechanisms involved in the early control of Mtb infection and the interplay with host innate and acquired immunity with microbiota to understand the pathogenesis of TB particularly the role of humoral immunity and IL?17 in latent tuberculosis; related to the proinflammatory state and generation of a broad spectrum of reactions either toward Th1 responses favoring stimulation by cytokines or by antibodies and those toward diminished responses by Th2 cytokines or blocking by antibodies; possibly involving mechanisms of antibody dependent protection from Mtb by different subclasses of IgG. Of importance, the cross?talk between Candida and Tuberculin mRNA responses need to be compared with signatures produced by other antigens(LPS and Streptococcus) to determine their importance and specificity in the pro?inflammation state of individuals of different populations and their role in immune responses; vaccinations or infectious diseases.

Dr. Yunis is presently a Professor of pathology at The Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Distinguished Physician in Medical Oncology at the department of Cancer Immunology and AIDS at Dana Farber Cancer Institute. He has received many awards, including the Rose Payne of the American Society of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics in 1992, The Philip Levine of the American Association of Blood Banks, 1987, the Hispanic Scientist of the year at MOSI, Tampa, FL in 2005 among others. Moreover, Dr. Yunis has made numerous contributions in immunogenetics, immunobiology, genetic diversity, infections, autoimmune diseases, and aging.

GTC’s Antibody Design and Discovery Conference, leading industry and academic innovators from Pfizer, Merck, The Scripps Research Institute, MedImmune, NIH, Dana- Farber Cancer Institute, and more to discuss exciting clinical trends and applications of antibodies. We’ll explore novel technologies being utilized to identify and select antibodies with better accuracy and efficiency, and learn about new optimization and developability techniques to enhance effective function. Moreover, attendees will hear directly from scientists and researchers about emerging clinical data, and its implications for the advancement of the field, including therapeutic antibodies in cancer, and infectious and autoimmune diseases.

This conference is also part of the Drug Discovery and Regulatory Summit, which consists of this track and three other tracks:
- Biospecimens and Biorepositories
- 6th Drug Design and Medicinal Chemistry
- Life Science Legal and Business Strategy

For more information, please visit http://www.gtcbio.com