Immunotherapy represents a field in Drug Discovery which is quickly developing and leading to significant progress in treatments of a number of diseases, especially cancer. The approach is based on inducing, enhancing, or surpressing an immune response. Therapeutic manipulation of immunopathways has led to promising clinical results . The first therapeutic antibodies directed against the checkpoint receptor PD-1 have been already brought to the market (Nivolumab, Pembrolizumab) by Bristol Myers Squibb and Merck/MSD respectively, and approved for the treatment of diverse cancer types.

Today, I would like to review tools to build up a comprehensive assay set up for  cell based inhibitor screening on PD-1 / PD-L1/PD-L2 binding.

Fig 1: Immuno checkpoint proteins on T cell interact with ligands on APCs or cancer cells

In a recent post,  I invited you to discover a cell line provided by BPS Bioscience over-expressing the checkpoint receptor PD-1. They have now just released a new kit which allows to generate a PD-L1 and TCR activator over-expressing target cell line.

Fig 1: Immuno checkpoint proteins on T cell interact with ligands on APCs or cancer cells

The treatment of diseases by inducing, enhancing, or surpressing an immune response is referred to as Immunotherapy. Therapeutic manipulation of immunopathways has led to promising clinical results for the treatment of a number of diseases. The first therapeutic antibodies directed against the checkpoint receptor PD-1 have been already brought to the market (Nivolumab, Pembrolizumab) by Bristol Myers Squibb and Merck/MSD respectively, and approved for the treatment of diverse cancer types.

Today, I would like to review a versatile tool to conduct cell based inhibitor screenings on PD-1 / PD-L1/PD-L2 binding.