Thank you to everyone who participated in the recent ATCC Innovation Challenge! In this challenge, we called upon innovators throughout the scientific community to submit a proposal of how they are using ATCC's CAR-T target luciferase reporter cells and checkpoint luciferase reporter cells in new, interesting, or daring applications.

After receiving numerous submissions, we are pleased to announce the winners of the challenge below. We're proud to be a part of this incredible research and we look forward to these innovative ideas coming to fruition.

Nigel Reuel, Iowa State University
Monitoring cell-mediated cytotoxic activity in real time enables advanced control and detailed system dynamic studies. Currently, real-time cytotoxic assays are limited to impedance-based assays, which are targeted to adherent cells. In this study, the scientists developed a polymer-based sensor that mechanically responds to the metabolites secreted from living cells. Using this sensor, they observed different dynamic profiles at different NK92 and K562 coculture ratios; however, the response profiles were contributed by both cell types. To resolve the confounding signal, the team intends to utilize ATCC CAR-T Target Luciferase Reporter Cells to identify live target cells, thereby normalizing and benchmarking the response profiles. 

Rodrigo Cristofoletti, University of Florida
CAR-T cells are systemically administered for blood cancer and therefore have easy access to a target. In turn, solid tumor CAR-T therapy must surmount several obstacles, such as the tumor stroma that impede the penetration and homing of CAR-T cells. Cristofoletti and colleagues aim to assess HER2 CAR-T recruitment and killing cell using a novel, adaptable organ-chip workflow. The chip will be made of PDMS, containing two parallel microchannels separated by a porous membrane. The upper channel will be seeded with the BT-474-Luc2 CAR-T target luciferase reporter cell line (ATCC HTB-20-LUC2). HUVECs from ATCC will be then plated on the chip bottom channel. Chips will be used to model HER2 CAR-T cell recruitment from the vascular compartment into upper compartment populated with BT-474-Luc2 cells. In this research, they will leverage HER2 CAR-T cells expressing different constructs from ProMab Biotechnologies, Inc. and will investigate which chemokines would enhance each HER2 CAR-T recruitment and efficacy using multi-modal analysis, including confocal imaging and effluent analysis.

Weiping Tang, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Tang and colleagues previously reported lysosome targeting chimeras (LYTACs) that can recruit CIM6PR and ASGPR to degrade membrane proteins. However, none of the LYTACs reported by the team and others have high selectivity for cancer. They recently developed a class of unprecedented LYTACs that could degrade PD-L1 selectively on cancer cells while leaving the PD-L1 on normal tissues untouched. The cancer-selective PD-L1 degrader showed significantly higher anti-tumor efficacy over current PD-L1 blocking agents in their animal model. However, the low-throughput Western blot assay they currently use limited their ability to optimize the properties of the PD-L1 degraders. To address this issue, Tang and colleagues plan to use ATCC Checkpoint Luciferase Reporter Cells to optimize degraders for PD-L1 and develop degraders for CD-155 and B7-H3 with high selectivity for cancer cells. They will also be able to monitor the kinetics of the degradation using these reporter cell lines.

No Purchase or Payment is Necessary to Enter or Win This Challenge. Void Where Prohibited.

Term

The ATCC Innovation Challenge (“Challenge”), sponsored by American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), begins at 12:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time (“ET”) October 16, 2023 and ends at 11:59 PM ET December 1, 2023.  Information on how to enter and win prizes is described below and form part of these official rules ("Official Rules"). By submitting an entry, each “Entrant” agrees to the Official Rules and warrants that his or her entry complies with all requirements set out in the Official Rules.

Who May Enter

The Challenge is open to researchers associated with an entity (private company or academic institute) residing in the United States of America who are twenty-one (21) years of age or older.  The employees of ATCC, and its subsidiaries, affiliates and distributors, and their immediate family members (spouse, parent, child, sibling, and their respective spouses, regardless of where they live) or persons living in the same households of such employees, whether or not related, are not eligible.  Only entities incorporated in the United States are eligible 

1. How to Enter

To enter, complete the entry form above with the required information, including your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, and; agree to these Official Rules and submit your entry in accordance with the instructions below.

Multiple entries are allowed; but only one entry may be eligible to win per Entrant.

Each entry must comply with the following requirements:

• Entries must be in digital format. Only online entries will be eligible. No print entries will be accepted for entry into this Challenge. The entry must describe current or future research utilizing the specified ATCC products in a novel way. The Entry must specify which product or products that are or will be used in the research. These products will be provided in the prize.
• The entry, in its entirety, must be a single work of original (not plagiarized in whole or any part) material by the Challenge Entrant. By entering the Challenge, Entrant represents, acknowledges, and warrants that the submitted entry is an original work, that the entry does not infringe on the copyrights, trademarks, rights of privacy/publicity or intellectual property rights of any person or entity, and that no other party, including, but not limited to, the Entrant’s employer, has any right, title, claim, or interest in the entry.

The entries will be judged in accordance with the Judging Criteria, as defined below. All entries must be submitted and received by December 1, 2023 11:59 PM ET.  Entrants must submit entries using the entry form above. Proof of submission generated from www.atcc.org is required when in question.  ATCC reserves the right to examine the entry material in order to confirm compliance with these rules.

Odds of winning depends on the number of eligible entries received.  ATCC is unable to estimate the projected number of entries. 

2. Releases 

Publicity and Copyright Release

Except where prohibited by law, by entering, each Entrant grants to ATCC the unrestricted right to use all statements made in connection with the Contest, and write-up or pictures of Contest Entrants for promotional purposes in any media, worldwide, or choose not to do so, at its sole discretion. ATCC will not be required to pay any additional consideration or seek any additional approval in connection with such use.

Each Entrant holds harmless and releases ATCC from any all claims arising from the Copyright License or relating to Publicity Rights, including, but not limited to any claims of defamation, or violations of moral rights, rights of publicity or copyright.

3. Challenge Prizes

Each winner will receive the ATCC products indicated in the entry in an amount at the discretion of ATCC. One entry may be eligible to win per Entrant. If the winner is not a current account holder with ATCC, they will need to be approved for an account and undergo an account review before they are eligible to receive a prize. 

No prize transfer, assignment, or substitution by winners permitted. If a prize (or part of a prize) is unavailable, then ATCC, in its sole discretion, reserves the right to substitute the original prize (or that part of the prize) with an alternative prize to the equal monetary value and/or specification, unless to do so would be prohibited by law. NONCOMPLIANCE OR RETURN OF PRIZE NOTIFICATION AS UNDELIVERABLE, WHETHER BY REGULAR MAIL OR BY EMAIL, MAY RESULT IN DISQUALIFICATION AND SELECTION OF AN ALTERNATE POTENTIAL WINNER.

4. Judging and Winner Selection

A panel of ATCC staff ("Judges") will select winning entries from among all eligible entries, based on the following criteria ("Judging Criteria"): (1) Novel application of specified ATCC products- fifty percent (50%) and (2) entry quality, specifically considering the work’s originality and potential impact - fifty percent (50%).  

Winners will be chosen on or about December 22, 2023, and notified by email on or before January 10, 2024, although receipt of prizes and official classification as a Winner is subject to all conditions and terms of these Official Rules and individuals not meeting these terms are subject to disqualification with selection of an alternate winner. Decisions of the Judges are final and binding.

5. Limitation of Liability and Indemnification

By entering this Challenge, all Entrants agree to release, discharge, indemnify and hold harmless ATCC and its partners, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising agencies, agents and their employees, officers, directors, and representatives from any claims, losses, and damages arising out of their participation in this Challenge or any Challenge-related activities and the acceptance and use, misuse, or possession of any ATCC product hereunder.  Entrants’ obligations to indemnify ATCC include actions arising (a) from any allegation that any entry you submit to us infringes or otherwise violates the copyright, trademark, trade secret or other intellectual property or other rights of any third party or is otherwise not in compliance with Section 1 above or (b) for any other violation of these Official Rules.

ATCC assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, or delay in operation or transmission; communications line failure; theft or destruction of or unauthorized access to challenge entries or entry forms; or alteration of entries or entry forms. ATCC is not responsible for any problems with or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any email entry to be received on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website, human errors of any kind, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to Entrants' or any other persons' computers related to or resulting from participation, uploading or downloading of any materials related to in this Challenge.

In no event shall ATCC, ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, AGENTS, EMPLOYEES AND AFFILIATES (collectively “ATCC INDEMNIFIED PARTIES”) be liable for indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages of any kind in connection with or arising out of this Agreement (whether in contract, tort, negligence, strict liability, statute or otherwise) even if ATCC has been advised, knew or should have known of the possibility of such damages, including, but not limited to, lost profits or cost of capital.  In no event shall ATCC’s cumulative liability exceed one dollar ($1.00). The provisions of this section shall survive the expiration or termination of this Agreement and shall apply even if the limited remedy specified in this Agreement is found to have failed of its essential purpose.

6.  Conditions

THIS CHALLENGE IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. Entrants agree that this Challenge shall be subject to and governed by and subject to the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the forum for any dispute shall be in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States of America. To the extent permitted by law, the right to litigate, to seek injunctive relief or to make any other recourse to judicial or any other procedure in case of disputes or claims resulting from or on connection with this Challenge are hereby excluded and any Entrant expressly waives any and all such rights. Certain restrictions may apply. Entries are void if ATCC determines the Entry to not be an original, or if the entries are illegible, incomplete, damaged, irregular, altered, counterfeit, produced in error or obtained through fraud or theft.

By entering and clicking “I Agree to the Official Rules” upon submission of an Entry, Entrants also agree (a) to be bound by these Official Rules; (b) that the decisions of the Judges are final and binding with respect to all matters relating to the Challenge; and (c) to be bound by the Releases in Section 2 above (except where prohibited by law). All federal, state and local taxes, fees and surcharges and taxes (whether foreign or domestic, and including income, sales, and import taxes) on prizes are the sole responsibility of the prize winners. In the event that the selected winner(s) of any prize is/are ineligible, cannot reasonably be located or reached after reasonable attempts (within the sole discretion of ATCC) or does/do not respond within ten (10) days to a winner notification as required by the "Challenge Prizes" Rules above, or refuses the prize, the prize will be forfeited and ATCC, in its sole discretion, may choose whether to award the prize to another Entrant.

All potential winners may need to provide a Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification W-9 form from the legal entity receiving the award. ATCC may further require or request, in its sole discretion, that potential winners sign and return within thirty (30) days following an attempted notification, an Affidavit, Declaration or Certificate of Eligibility, and separate Liability Releases, a Publicity Release, and all documents required by ATCC. Failure to execute and deliver any required documents to ATCC by the specified deadline may result in disqualification from the Challenge, and selection of an alternate potential winner.  All such documents must be in the form provided by ATCC.

ATCC reserves the right to verify the validity and originality of any Entry and/or Entrant (including an Entrant's identity and address) and to disqualify any Entrant who submits an Entry that is not in accordance with these Official Rules or who tampers with the entry process. Failure by ATCC to enforce any of its rights at any stage does not constitute a waiver of those rights.

ATCC will require that the winners sign and return a Research Collaboration Agreement, which will outline the winners use of ATCC products. In addition, all winners will need to have on file or sign and return ATCC’s Material Transfer Agreement. 

7. Right to Cancel or Suspend Challenge

If for any reason the Challenge is not capable of running as planned, due to infection by computer virus, bugs, worms, Trojan horses, denial of service attacks, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes beyond the control of ATCC that corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Challenge, ATCC reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual(s) who tamper with the entry process, and/or to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the Challenge. If ATCC elects to cancel or terminate the Challenge, ATCC will not retain any rights in the submitted entries.

8. Winners List

Entrants are responsible for complying with these Official Rules. Winners' names will be available online on or after February 14, 2024 and will be announced via ATCC email newsletter on or after February 14, 2024.

9. Data Privacy

By submitting an Entry, Entrants agree that ATCC may post their names on its website or other promotional materials and that it may publicize information about Winners as described herein. All personal data will be used as per the terms and conditions of ATCC’s privacy policy.

10.  Sponsor Contact Information 

ATCC
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USA
703-365-2700