Johan Skog,
Chief Scientific Officer,
Exosome Diagnostics Inc
Dr. Skog currently serves as chief scientific officer of Exosome Diagnostics where he is leading the research and development efforts for biofluid diagnostics using exosomes in diseases such as cancer, metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases. He is the primary inventor of Exosome Diagnostics' core technology and, in particular, blood-based genetic diagnostics of cancer. Dr. Skog made the discovery that tumor-shed exosomes (microvesicles) contain genetic information of the tumor. He showed that these microvesicles serve to deliver messages to other cells inducing changes favorable to the proliferation of cancer cells. He demonstrated that these tumor exosomes are released into the bloodstream and that they can be isolated and studied for genetic mutations (Skog et al. Nature Cell Biology 2008; 10: 1470-1476). Prior to the start of the company Exosome Diagnostics, Dr. Skog was working at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School where he was studying the role of tumor stem cells in gliomas and later tumor derived exosomes, including their content of RNA biomarkers and transposable elements such as endogenous retroviruses. He also showed that gene therapy vectors can be incorporated into microvesicles and be used as a “stealth” vector with changed tropisms (Maguire et al. Molecular Therapy 2012 Feb 7). Dr. Skog received his PhD at the Department of Virology, Umea University, Sweden, working on novel gene therapy vectors for treatment of gliomas.
Exosomes, Advancing Liquid Biopsy Diagnostics
Wednesday, 2 November 2016 at 12:00
Add to Calendar ▼2016-11-02 12:00:002016-11-02 13:00:00Europe/LondonExosomes, Advancing Liquid Biopsy DiagnosticsCancer Immunotherapy and Biofluid Biopsies 2016 in Boston, USABoston, USASELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com
The field of liquid biopsy has gained enormous interest in recent years. An important goal of personalized medicine has been being able to detect tumor derived genetic profiles and tracking the evolution of tumor mutations over time. Utilizing cell free tumor DNA (ctDNA) for detection of mutations in plasma has shown some promise in late stage cancer patients, but can only be used to track genetic changes. A more complete picture can be seen by combining the mutations in ctDNA with the mutations and RNA profiles from exosomes. We have validated and launched the world’s first clinical tests using exosomal RNA (exoRNA). We have also developed a single step isolation platform for exoRNA and ctDNA from biofluids, which increases the available mutant copies from the tumor available for analysis. In a blinded head to head analysis, this platform had better sensitivity when compared to ctDNA alone. Exosomes are especially interesting because they are released as an active process from not only cancer cells, but also other cells, such as tumor stroma and immune cells. This enables us to access RNA profiles when monitoring response to more complex processes, such as immunotherapy response, where monitoring mutations may not be sufficient.
Add to Calendar ▼2016-11-01 00:00:002016-11-02 00:00:00Europe/LondonCancer Immunotherapy and Biofluid Biopsies 2016Cancer Immunotherapy and Biofluid Biopsies 2016 in Boston, USABoston, USASELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com
Add to Calendar ▼2016-11-02 12:00:002016-11-02 13:00:00Europe/LondonExosomes, Advancing Liquid Biopsy DiagnosticsCancer Immunotherapy and Biofluid Biopsies 2016 in Boston, USABoston, USASELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com
