BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk// X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Efficient cytokine detection: The Way Forward – 3rd July 2009 - Speaker to be confirmed DTSTART:20090703T080000Z DTEND:20090703T160000Z UID:TALK18834@talks.cam.ac.uk CONTACT:Dr Astrid Englezou DESCRIPTION:The meeting will be held at The BioPark\, Hertfordshire\, UK and has CPD approval.\nThe Chair: will be Dr Stephen Thompson\, (King's Co llege London\, UK)\n\nAre you measuring or want to measure cytokines ?\, t rying to optimise your technique or do you want just to make sure you are going about it the right way?\nThis meeting aims to summarise some of the options open to you and to discuss which techniques best suit your require ments. A series of presentations from experts working in the academic\, cl inical and commercial sectors will compare recent developments in technolo gies ranging from relatively “low-tech” assays such as ELISA\, Elispot and bioassays through to the “high-tech” platform technologies of var ious multiplex cytokine detection systems. Their use in basic science\, R& D and translational research will be discussed.\n\nIf you book this event you will get 30% off the EARLY REGISTRATION FEE for registration to the pa rtner ELISPOT FOLLOW UP EVENT which will take place on the 15th Oct 2009. To find out more about this meeting go to www.regonline.co.uk/elispot09. On registering for Efficient cytokine detection: The Way Forward you will receive an email giving you details of how to receive your discount to th e October ELISPOT event. \nThe Agenda includes:\n\nCytokine detection in collagen-induced arthritis. Dr Richard Williams\, Kennedy Institute of Rhe umatology Division\, Imperial College\, UK\nCollagen-induced arthritis is a model of rheumatoid arthritis that has been used extensively to validate novel therapeutic targets. The main pathological features of the disease include synovitis\, pannus formation and joint erosion. There is a great d eal of interest in the development and testing of drugs with the capacity to modulate inflammatory pathways in arthritis. Hence\, there is a need to monitor the effect of novel treatments on cytokine expression in vivo. Th is presentation will focus on the techniques used to quantify changes in c ytokine expression following therapeutic intervention \n \nUsing ELIspot t o detect rare antigen specific T cells . Dr Tim Tree\, Kings College\, Lon don \n \nIsolation of live Regulatory\, Effector and interleukin-17-produc ing T cells using cytokine secretion - Dr John Campell – Miltenyi Biotec Ltd\, Surrey\, UK \nIL-17 producing T cells are currently the focus of mu ch interest in the fields of inflammation and immunity. The IL-17-producin g phenotype is somewhat plastic\, and generation of IL-17-producing T cell s in vitro is complex. Here I will demonstrate the detection and isolation of live IL-17-producing T cells direct from blood and spleen using the IL -17 secretion assay system. The phenotypes and functions of natural IL-17- producing cells will be discussed\, along with the possibility of splittin g the IL-17 and IFN-gamma secreting populations based on two-colour cytoki ne secretion.\n\nIL-10\, regulatory T cells and respiratory health: the ro le of the vitamin D pathway. \nDr Catherine Hawrylowicz\, Kings College\, London\n CD4+Foxp3+ Treg and IL-10 secreting Treg are proposed to play a r ole in the control of immune homeostasis in the lung and may have therapeu tic potential in allergic and asthmatic disease. Our studies are investiga ting pharmacological protocols to promote these regulatory T cell populati ons in allergic and asthmatic patients.\n\n \nApplication of cytokines ass ays in the biotechnology sector - from proof-of-principle to clinical tria ls. \nDr James N Francis\, Senior Vaccine Development Scientist\, Immune Targeting Systems Ltd\, London\, UK\nThe development of novel T-cell vacci nes relies heavily on cytokine measurements for proof-of-principle experim ents\, product characterization and immunomonitoring of clinical trials. Multiple approaches to cytokine measurements are utilized during these pro cesses. The ELISpot remains the workhorse for most immunomonitoring of ph ase I and II vaccine clinical trials due to the assay’s high sensitivity and optimisation of these assays are crucial for success. In-house charac terization of novel T-cell vaccines may utilse multiplex cytokine arrays a nd intracellular cytokine staining to determine the immunological profile of candidate vaccines. Practical aspects of cytokine measurement will be discussed during this presentation\n\nTalk title to be confirmed - Profess or Paul Lehman and Wenji Zhang\n\nTalk title to be confirmed. Dr. Deborah A. O'Neil\, NovaBiotics Ltd\, Aberdeen\, UK \n \n\n\nImmunohistochemical visualization of cytokines and other small molecules. Dr Chris van der Loo s\, Academic Medical Center\, Univ. of Amsterdam \, The Netherlands \nThe use of post-fixed cryostat tissue sections has been widely accepted as ‘ gold-standard’ for testing primary antibodies in immunohistochemistry (I HC). However\, IHC staining of unbound small molecules like cytokines\, ma y result into false-positive plasma cells\, whereas specific staining is l acking. Leaking of the cytokine molecule during post-fixation is most like ly the cause of this problem. In contrast\, pre-fixation does retain the s mall molecules much better. Based on these findings suggestions are made f or positive controls from cells and the use of optimally formalin-fixed pa raffin tissue sections. Furthermore\, testing of more than one primary ant ibody is highly recommended. \n \nDiffering multiplex cytokine analysis pl atforms . Dr Gendie Lash\, Institute of Cellular Medicine\, Newcastle Univ ersity\nMultiplex cytokine analysis technologies have become readily avail able in the last seven years. Two main formats exist: multiplex sandwich ELISA and bead based assays. While these have each been compared to indiv idual ELISAs\, there has been little direct comparison between the two for mats. I will discuss the comparison between two multiplex sandwich ELISA assays (FAST Quant and SearchLight) and a bead based assay (UpState Lumine x). \n\n \n\nWe invite abstract submissions. A prize of a year’s subsc ription to Nature Reviews Immunology at the conclusion of the day will be awarded to the best oral/poster presentation. We encourage you to submit a bstracts for these sessions\, which are designed to promote a balanced pro gram of talks\, delivered by both well-established\, pre-eminent researche rs in the field as well as those starting out on their careers.\n \nIf you would like to book a place please visit : www.regonline.co.uk/cytokines09 \n\n LOCATION:The BioPark\, Hertfordshire\,AL7 3AX UK END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR