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This is Nobel Prize week, and it was kicked off in the early hours of this morning with the announcement of James Allison and Tasuku Honjo receiving the award in medicine for advances in cancer immunotherapy. As a scientist, it is amazing to see basic discoveries in the laboratory lead to real impact in patients; it is what fuels my passion for science. Today, cancer immunotherapy has given hope to cancer patients and pushed technology (like CARTs and gene therapy) to new frontiers that will continue to pay dividends for years to come. While the current hot applications of these immunological findings are in cancer immunotherapy, no small part of the early discoveries were in the fields of autoimmunity and infectious disease. Here at ReFigure, I’ve created a collection of two early findings in the Allison and Honjo laboratories along the road to the clinic. See the ReFigure I created here: https://bit.ly/2xQ7cq7

In the first, we see the application of the anti-CTLA4 antibody in a mouse model of melanoma. In this experiment, the anti-tumor effect is shown to be modulated by specific subsets of T cells and is improved upon blocking CTLA-4. I know from my direct experience with this model, that 60% survival at 70 days post challenge is remarkable! Today, patients with anti-CTLA-4 therapy are experiencing durable responses in the clinic. The experiment from Honjo shows early validation of PD-1 as a co-inhibitory signal in lymphocytes. Previous work in that laboratory had shown that an antibody to PD-1 could specifically stain activated T cells. This experiment shows that engaging PD-1 puts the breaks on lymphocyte activation. I know from direct experience with such in vitro assays, getting the concentrations just right to reveal the effect can be challenging (as you can see by the two doses shown). Today, anti-PD-1 therapy has inaugurated a boom for cancer immunotherapy with new discoveries being made every day. Enjoy this kickoff to Nobel prize week and try out ReFigure to re-mix experiments you find interesting!

June was Cancer Immunotherapy Month. ReFigure founders, James Akin and I are (also) bench scientists in this research area. We combined a desire to conduct cancer outreach with spreading awareness about novel tools such as ReFigure and Open Knowledge Maps by organizing a hack-a-thon style event with readers  of scientific papers (scientists, patients, caregivers, citizen scientists). The reason we consider it hacking is that we tested innovative, disruptive and non traditional tools for papers whose formats have remained unchanged for decades. The barrier to entry for new readers can be extreme: not knowing where the knowledge can be found, or how to search for it using jargon filled language.

It was an immense learning experience for us; starting from not scheduling it before a potential holiday to managing the needs of such a diverse audience. Some of our expectations were unrealistic in hindsight. For instance, expecting attendees to create cancer ReFigures on the fly. Yet, we were amazed by the use cases that emerged within 90 minutes from a group of 12 people.

We reviewed Google search, Wikepedia, Pubmed and Clinicaltrials.gov as sources of information. Attendees learned about ReFigure, OKMaps and annotation using Hypothes.is. One citizen scientist and patient described how she had discovered a hidden set of highly relevant research by identifying new search terms on Pubmed. An assistant professor at a cancer hospital and research center said that “she spends hours reading papers and having ideas. But in the rush of her workday the ideas are lost as soon as she closes her browser. Refigure allows her to save and refine her ideas”. Our figure-a-thon also served a networking event where stakeholders were able to talk about their experience in researching cancer immunotherapy.

With this experience, we are planning more events that will help people interact with and remix scientific literature. If you have any suggestions or would like to be involved, please email us at contactrefigure@gmail.com.