Microbiome and Germ-Free INSIGHTS

Drugs targeting immune checkpoint inhibitor pathways have shown tremendous promise in treating various types of cancer and have been highly effective in a number of patients. However, for a subset of cancer patients this new type of treatment approach has failed to work. Recently, a series of landmark studies demonstrated that the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitor therapies is dependent upon the presence of specific gut bacteria1-3....  Read More

As researchers continue to explore the complex relationship between the microbiome and disease, a key point of focus is understanding how the microbiome impacts drug efficacy. Both preclinical and clinical findings increasingly demonstrate that the microbiome can impact how therapeutics work — as well as the degree to which preclinical findings can be translated to the clinic reliably. The gastrointestinal tract represents the largest reservoir of microbes...  Read More

It is well documented that the microbiome can impact both the development of disease and the efficacy of therapeutics. The microbiome also is consistently cited as a significant contributor to preclinical study variability and reproducibility, in part due to its effects on a mouse model's predictability. With a strong incentive to better understand the role of the microbiome in disease development and treatment, the research community continues...  Read More

Regulatory T (Treg) lymphocytes play an essential role in maintaining homeostasis of the immune system. Characterized by expression of the forkhead box transcription factor (Foxp3), populations of Tregs are divided into two subsets: thymus-derived, or natural Treg cells (nTreg), peripheral Treg cells (pTreg), or induced Treg cells that arise extrathymically1. Both subsets work to maintain immune balance by limiting excessive effector responses and providing immune tolerance to...  Read More

Mice remain the most utilized animal model within microbiome research. The advantages of using mouse models are clear with regard to homogenous genetics, accessibility to germ-free, mutant and/or transgenic models, a comparable physiology and the relatively low cost of performing studies. In addition, the use of mouse models has been key in landmark studies determining the role of the gut microbiota in various diseases. Despite the clear...  Read More

Bacteria, Archaea, and Eukarya constitute the most abundant part of the biosphere, including the plants and animals most familiar to most and an invisible world of organisms that many never consider. Although these microbes were known to exist, their diversity and functional significance within our world has not always been fully appreciated. The entire community of microorganisms that inhabit a single environment is known as a microbiome....  Read More

Dr. Paula Roesch recently presented a webinar on microbiological monitoring of germ-free and gnotobiotic colonies. Taconic Biosciences has decades of experience in this area and Dr. Roesch presented a thorough look at all aspects of the process, starting from tools and approaches to process validation and monitoring and moving into isolator monitoring techniques. She even included lessons learned from a case study where things didn't go as...  Read More

Looking for a microbiome conference or workshop? 2020 looks to be a banner year for microbiome conferences. Here are some upcoming sessions we'll be following with interest. As of the publish date of this Insight, there are over fifty 2020 conferences that have been announced so far. Thirty-four of the 2020 events are hosted in the US or Canada, fourteen in Europe and Israel, and five in...  Read More

Dr. Cristina Weiner recently presented a webinar featuring a novel approach to germ-free derivations. She discussed the importance of understanding baseline performance and making incremental process improvements as well as how Taconic Biosciences developed and implemented a new facility design which supports improved germ-free derivation success. We present the full webinar Q&A here. Dr. Cristina Weiner: While recognizing that the germ-free integrity of the animal is most...  Read More

The microbiome continues to be an important topic in both human health research and in popular culture. The microbiome is cited as a factor in multiple diseases, neurological conditions, and immune responses to foreign pathogens. Specific compositions of gut commensal bacteria have been associated with an increased incidence of depression, varying responses to immunotherapies, and the progression of neurodegenerative disease through the gut-brain axis. A recent article...  Read More