Novel monoclonal antibodies with therapeutic potential

Over the last decade, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have become established as highly effective agents for treatment of cancer and various inflammatory conditions. There is immense interest in the design and development of new and improved mAbs or mAb-based formats that may have greater efficacy or target additional types of disease. One exciting possibility is to generate bispecific mAbs capable of simultaneously engaging two different antigens. Such constructs are capable of linking targets such as cancer cells to effectors such as immune cells such that the latter can bring about destruction of the former. Another possibility is to fuse enzymes or other partners to a specific mAb, or a subcomponent of such a mAb, to produce a conjugate that will localize to the disease site and display novel therapeutic properties.
The project aims to engineer novel mAb formats, tailored for enhanced efficacy against defined disease targets. Following expression and purification, their assembly and functional capabilities will be assessed in a wide variety of relevant assays. The project will offer training in a broad range of techniques including DNA cloning and mutagenesis, mammalian cell culture and transfection, biochemical and immunological techniques, molecular interaction analysis in surface plasmon resonance experiments, and cell killing assays.