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Background: Many patients with relapsed/refractory (R/R) aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL) are unable to tolerate, access, or benefit from intensive chemo-therapeutic approaches or cellular therapies and will invariably relapse; therefore, novel approaches are urgently required. Odronextamab (REGN1979) is a hinge-stabilized, human CD20 × CD3 IgG4-based bispecific antibody that elicits T-cell-mediated cytotoxicity of malignant B cells. In a Phase 1 study, odronextamab monotherapy showed a manageable safety profile with encouraging preliminary activity in heavily pre-treated patients with R/R B-NHL (Bannerji R, et al. Lancet Haematol. 2022;9(5):e327-39). REGN5837 is a hinge-stabilized, human CD28 × CD22 IgG4-based bispecific antibody that provides a co-stimulatory signal (signal 2). When combined with odronextamab (signal 1), REGN5837 improved anti-tumor efficacy and survival in in vivo diffuse large B-cell lymphoma tumor models via enhanced T-cell expansion. We hypothesize that combining REGN5837 with odronextamab may deepen and extend anti-tumor activity in patients with aggressive lymphoma. Methods: ATHENA-1 (NCT05685173) is a Phase 1, open-label, first-in-human study of REGN5837 in combination with odronextamab in patients with R/R aggressive B-NHL. During induction, odronextamab and REGN5837 will be administered weekly over 21-day cycles. To mitigate potential CRS events, odronextamab will be introduced with step-up dosing as a monotherapy, followed by introduction of REGN5837 on C2 D15 with step-up dosing. Maintenance will consist of 28-day cycles (odronextamab and REGN5837 administration on D1, 15). Patients who achieve a sustained complete response (≥9 months) will have study drug(s) administration changed to once every 4 weeks. Patients must be aged ≥18 years, have Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status ≤1, with adequate organ function, and have CD20+ aggressive B-NHL that progressed after ≥2 lines of systemic therapy containing at least an anti-CD20 antibody and an alkylating agent, with or without prior chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy. Exclusion criteria include prior allogeneic stem cell transplant, organ transplant, or CD20xCD3 bispecific antibodies, or mantle cell lymphoma or central nervous system lymphoma. Primary endpoints are incidence of dose-limiting toxicities and the incidence and severity of treatment-emergent adverse events. Secondary endpoints include pharmacokinetics of odronextamab and REGN5837, anti-drug antibody incidence, objective response rate, complete response rate, duration of response, progression-free survival, and overall survival. Enrolment is planned to open in early 2023. Citation Format: John Baird, Pim G. Mutsaers, Jeremy S. Abramson, Manjusha Namuduri, Jingjin Li, Nickolas A. Sophos, Min Zhu, Jurriaan Brouwer-Visser, Hesham Mohamed, Aafia Chaudhry, Andrew J. Davies. Trial in progress: ATHENA-1 - a phase 1, open-label, first-in-human study to assess safety and tolerability of REGN5837 in combination with odronextamab in patients with relapsed/refractory aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphomas [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 2 (Clinical Trials and Late-Breaking Research); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(8_Suppl):Abstract nr CT129.

Why is agreement on one particular name for each gene important? As one genome after another becomes sequenced, it is imperative to consider the complexity of genes, genetic architecture, gene expression, gene-gene and gene-product interactions and evolutionary relatedness across species. To agree on a particular gene name not only makes one's own research easier, it aids automated text-mining algorithms and search engines, which are increasingly employed to find relationships in the millions of abstracts in the medical research literature and sequence databases. A common nomenclature system will also be helpful to the present generation, as well as future generations, of graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who are about to enter genomics research. In this paper, the authors present some problems that arose when two separate research communities decided to choose the same root, CYP, for naming their gene families. They then offer a logical solution, by renaming the cyclophilin genes with a common root, such a cyn- in Caenorhabditis and CYN- in mammals (Cyn in mouse), and using evolutionary divergence to cluster genes of the highest level of relatedness.

We have studied the distribution of the ALDH3A1, ALDH1A1 and ALDH2 proteins in the cornea and stomach of several animal species, including mammals (C57BL/6J and SWR/J mice, rat and pig), birds (chicken and turkey), amphibians (frog) and fish (trout and zebrafish). High ALDH3A1 protein levels and catalytic activities were detected in C57BL/6J mouse, rat and pig. We found complete absence of the ALDH3A1 protein in SWR/J mice, which carry the Aldh3a1c allele characterized by four amino acid substitutions (G88R, I154N, H305R and I352V) and lack of enzymatic activity. This indicates that the SWR/J mouse strain is a natural gene knockout model for ALDH3A1. Traces of ALDH3A1 were detected in rabbit, whereas expression was absent from chicken, turkey, frog, trout, and zebrafish. Interestingly, significant levels of the cytosolic ALDH1A1 and mitochondrial ALDH2 proteins were detected by immunoblot analysis in all examined species that are deficient in ALDH3A1 expression. In contrast, no ALDH1A1 or ALDH2 protein was detected in the species expressing ALDH3A1. It can, therefore, be concluded that corneal expression of ALDH3A1 or ALDH1A1/ALDH2 occurs in a taxon-specific manner, supporting the protective role of these ALDHs in cornea against the UV-induced oxidative damage.

Aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) superfamily represents a group of NAD(P) + -dependent enzymes that catalyze the oxidation of a wide spectrum of endogenous and exogenous aldehydes. With the advent of megabase genome sequencing, the ALDH superfamily is expanding rapidly on many fronts. As expected, ALDH genes are found in virtually all genomes analyzed to date, indicating the importance of these enzymes in biological functions. Complete genome sequences of various species have revealed additional ALDH genes. As of July 2000, the ALDH superfamily consists of 331 distinct genes, of which eight are found in archaea, 165 in eubacteria, and 158 in eukaryota. The number of ALDH genes in some species with their genomes completely sequenced and annotated, Escherichia coli and Caenorhabditis elegans , ranges from 10 to 17. In the human genome, 17 functional genes and three pseudogenes have been identified to date. Divergent evolution, based on multiple alignment analysis of 86 eukaryotic ALDH amino-acid sequences, was the basis of the standardized ALDH gene nomenclature system (Pharmacogenetics 9: 421–434, 1999). Thus far, the eukaryotic ALDHs comprise 20 gene families. A complete list of all ALDH sequences known to date is presented here along with the evolution analysis of the eukaryotic ALDHs.

e15125 Background: Activating mutations in the RAS/RAF/MEK/ERK signaling pathway are commonly found in ABC. Binimetinib is an oral, selective small molecule inhibitor of MEK1/2; single agent activity of Binimetinib in ABC has previously been observed. Preclinical data support anti-tumor synergy for Binimetinib when combined with G & C, administered in an interrupted dosing schedule. Methods: A Single arm, non-randomized, open-label, phase I,evaluated Binimetinib in combination with G and C in pts with untreated ABC, who had advanced measurable disease, ECOG 0-1, adequate bone marrow, renal, hepatic and cardiac function. The primary endpoint was to determine the MTD. Tumor tissue for targeted gene sequencing, blood samples for peripheral blood pERK expression and cell cycle analysis were evaluated. Patients received oral Binimetinib twice daily with G and C IV infusions day 8 and 15 of a 21 days cycle in a standard 3 + 3 dose escalation scheme. Binimetinib was held for 2 days prior to and on day of each G ...

The cytotoxic effects of menadione and hydrogen peroxide were examined in two hepatic stellate cell lines derived from normal or cirrhotic rat liver. The cirrhotic fat-storing cells (CFSC) were found more resistant than the normal fat-storing cells (NFSC) to menadione cytotoxicity. No significant differences were observed in hydrogen peroxide toxicity in these two cell lines. Although protein levels and enzymatic activities of catalase, Cu,Zn–SOD, Mn–SOD, and NADPH cytochrome c reductase were similar in these cell lines, 20-fold increases of NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) enzymatic activity and protein levels were detected in CFSC compared to those of NFSC. Gel mobility shift assays and functional analysis using transient transfection experiments indicated the involvement of the electrophile responsive element (EPRE) in the up-regulation of the NQO1 expression. Antibody supershift analysis revealed that, although Nrf2 is a member of the EPRE-binding complex in both NFSC and CFSC, Nrf1 was identified as a part of the protein/DNA complex only in CFSC. Expression of p53 tumor suppressor gene was found in higher levels in CFSC than in NFSC. We conclude that activation of the EPRE-signaling pathway, which up-regulates several phase II genes and affects p53 stabilization, may offer resistance to hepatic stellate cells against oxidative damage during hepatic injury. This resistance may be a part of the activation process of the hepatic stellate cells and could contribute to their increased proliferation and production of extracellular matrix.

The aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) superfamily represents a divergently related group of enzymes that metabolize a wide variety of endogenous and exogenous aldehydes. With the advent of megabase genome sequencing, the ALDH superfamily is continuously expanding on many fronts. The presence of ALDH encoding genes in the vast majority of archaeal, eubacterial and eukaryotic genomes supports the notion that these enzymes are important components of metabolic processes in living organisms and that the ALDH superfamily is ancient in origin. As of July 2002, the ALDH superfamily consists of 555 distinct genes: 32 in archaea, 351 in eubacteria, and 172 in eukaryota. Complete sequencing of individual genomes reveals the number of ALDH genes found per organism ranges from 1 to 5 in archaeal species, 1-26 genes in eubacterial species, and 8-17 genes in eukaryotic species. In the human genome, 17 functional genes and 3 pseudogenes have been identified to date. A standardized ALDH gene nomenclature system has been developed based on multiple alignment analysis of eukaryotic ALDH amino acid sequences. Both Human and Mouse Genome Projects have accepted this nomenclature system. In this report, we present a complete listing of all ALDH sequences known to date, along with the evolutionary analysis of the eukaryotic ALDHs. Thus far, the eukaryotic ALDHs comprise 20 gene families. Detailed information on ALDH gene superfamily is also available at http://www.uchsc.edu/sp/sp/alcdbase/aldhcov.html.