The invention disclosed in this patent application relates to plasmid expression vector encoding human interleukin 12 (IL-12) and its use for human cancer gene therapy using electroporation or any other applications. The said plasmid carries the human IL-12 fusion gene under the transcriptional control of human promoter of the CDKN1A (p21) gene. To content the demands for clinically used plasmids, the plasmid carries no antibiotic resistance genes.
F.35 Other
COBISS.SI-ID: 2867323At the 3rd World Congress on Electroporation and Pulsed Electric Fields in Biology, Medicine and Food, Urska Kamensek gave and oral presentation in which she presented her approach to in situ vaccination. In the approach, she is using concomitant intratumoral GET of two plasmids: a plasmid encoding a cytotoxic cytokine tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF?) to induce in situ vaccination and a plasmid encoding an immunostimulatory cytokine Interleukin 12 (IL-12) to boost the primed local immune response into a systemic one. First, she presented the results of the first part of experiments confirming the feasibility and effectiveness of the approach in eliciting a potent and durable antitumor response in a mouse melanoma tumor model. Next, she presented the results of the second part of the experiments, where the aim was to prove the abscopal effectiveness of the approach using the dual-flank tumor models, and to test the approach in two additional tumor models with different immunological status: mouse mammary adenocarcinoma and colon carcinoma. The results showed that the therapeutic effectiveness of the approach, local and abscopal, very much depends on the immunological status of the tumor. She presented some explanations for the observed results and concluded that exact mechanisms need further investigation. The presentation was awarded the first price in the field of vaccines.
B.03 Paper at an international scientific conference
COBISS.SI-ID: 3332219Studies in the field of immunology are revealing an attractive set of novel, different therapeutic approaches to treat infectious and cancer diseases. Among these, electroporation has become a widely accepted platform technology for Gene electrotransfer (GET), Electrochemotherapy (ECT), Irreversible Electroporation (IRE) and Calcium Electroporation (CaEP). Past and recent results underline the capability of these strategies to influence the immune system response, since different immune cells are recruited influencing the immune response at local and, quite often, at distant level. In this special issue, we want to discuss how electroporation can modulate the immunological effects and enhance the immune system response by genetic vaccines and/or immunomodulatory molecules, administered alone or in combination with other therapeutic treatments. We want also to discuss the immunological effects of drugs delivered by electric fields in pre-clinical and clinical trials.
C.03 Guest-associated editor
COBISS.SI-ID: 520262937Prof. Gregor Serša is editor-in-chief of international journal Radiology and Oncology. Radiology and Oncology is a multidisciplinary journal promoting Slovenian and international research in the field of radiology and oncology internationally. Quality of the journal is improving every year. The journal is included in ''SCOPUS'', ''Web of Science'' and ''PubMed'' databases. In 2011, the journal received an impact factor.
C.04 Editorial board of an international magazine
COBISS.SI-ID: 32649472Prof. Maja Čemažar was a supervisor of PhD thesis of young researcher Urši Lampreht Tratar. In 2018, Urši Lampreht Tratar successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled Electrogenetherapy with interleukin 12 for the treatment of skin and oral tumors in dogs.
D.09 Tutoring for postgraduate students
COBISS.SI-ID: 296343552