***ProtoKinetix Has Entered into a Research Agreem
Post# of 88
Marietta, Ohio, January 10, 2018
ProtoKinetix, Incorporated (www.protokinetix.com) (the "Company" or "ProtoKinetix" (OTCQBKTX) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a research agreement with The University of British Columbia (UBC), under the direction of principal investigator Dr. Kelly McNagny, Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Medical Genetics.
Dr. Kelly McNagny Bio:
Dr. Kelly McNagny obtained his Ph.D. in Cellular Immunology at the U. of Alabama at Birmingham in 1990. There he worked with Dr. Max D. Cooper (Howard Hughes Medical Institute, National Academy of Sciences) and his research focused on cell surface proteins that regulate B cell maturation and homing. He then moved to the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany where he performed his postdoctoral studies in the lab of Dr. Thomas Graf from 1991 to 1996. There his work focused on transcriptional control of hematopoietic stem cell maturation and cell fate. He performed some of the first studies to identify transcription factors that regulate the gene expression and differentiation of eosinophils, which are known to play a major role in allergic and asthmatic responses. In addition, he identified a number of novel hematopoietic stem cell surface proteins (the CD34 family) and began analyzing their function. He continued his studies at the EMBL as a semi-independent, Visiting Scientist from 1996 to 1998 prior to starting his own laboratory at The Biomedical Research Centre, at UBC.
This research agreement is to test and determine the effect of AAGP™ on monoclonal antibody production and bone marrow recovery.
The University of British Columbia’s Antibody Lab will test whether AAGP™ enhances the production of monoclonal antibodies from cell lines, an important manufacturing issue for current immunotherapies. UBC will also test whether AAGP™ enhances the survival/efficacy of engraftment of hematopoietic stem cells, a technical hurdle in cell based therapies for bone marrow transplantation and cancer therapy.
The goal will be to determine whether AAGP™ enhances the ex vivo survival and maintenance of multipotent potential in a way that could be used to enhance bone marrow transplantation. “If AAGP™ could enhance survival or, better still, aid in the expansion of stem cells in vitro, this would be of enormous clinical benefit”– said Dr. Kelly McNagny, Professor of Medical Genetics, UBC.
The goal of a bone marrow transplant is to cure many diseases and types of cancer. When the doses of chemotherapy or radiation needed to cure a cancer are so high that a person’s bone marrow stem cells will be permanently damaged or destroyed by the treatment, a bone marrow transplant may be needed. Bone marrow transplants may also be needed if the bone marrow has been destroyed by a disease.
A bone marrow transplant can be used to:
Replace diseased, non-functioning bone marrow with healthy functioning bone marrow (for conditions such as leukemia, aplastic anemia, and sickle cell anemia).
Regenerate a new immune system that will fight existing or residual leukemia or other cancers not killed by the chemotherapy or radiation used in the transplant.
Replace the bone marrow and restore its normal function after high doses of chemotherapy and/or radiation are given to treat a malignancy. This process is often called rescue (for diseases such as lymphoma and neuroblastoma).
Replace bone marrow with genetically healthy functioning bone marrow to prevent further damage from a genetic disease process (such as Hurler's syndrome, adrenoleukodystrophy or severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID)).