dSLIMming the immune system

The immune system normally doesn't recognize antigens associated with cancer as "other," which has made developing cancer vaccines difficult. Mologen AG thinks its dSLIM adjuvant may act as an immune modulator that sensitizes the immune system to antigens that it would normally overlook.

"dSLIM is a DNA molecule consisting of 80-120 nucleotides," CEO Burghardt Wittig told BioCentury. "dSLIM has two loop-like structures at either end of the molecule - think about a dumbbell. In the loops are single-stranded DNA sequence motifs that are recognized by human cells as bacterial." As a result, cells respond with an inflammatory response to the perceived bacterial infection. That response may sensitize the immune system to cancer antigens, Wittig said...