Research

The cure rate for children with pediatric solid tumors is unacceptable, making the development of new therapies imperative. The Bosse Laboratory focuses on discovering and developing new solid tumor cell surface immunotherapeutic targets. The lab aims to capitalize on the robust differential expression of these molecules with immune-based therapeutics with a goal to translate new transformative drugs to the clinic. They also study the underlying biology of these molecules to improve the understanding of the critical biologic mechanisms driving tumorigenesis. For example, the lab has discovered that the lineage-restricted oncoprotein, glypican-2 (GPC2), is robustly and selectively expressed on the surface of neuroblastomas and other pediatric and adult solid tumors and that this molecule is essential to tumorigenesis. The lab is now focused on defining the underlying biology of tumor dependence on GPC2 and developing immunotherapeutic approaches targeting GPC2, including antibody-drug conjugates and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells, some of which are now being tested clinically. Furthermore, using its immunotherapeutic target discovery algorithm and validation platform, the lab is also developing additional differentially expressed cell surface molecules for immune-based therapies.