TECHNOLOGY SEED
- Medical / Life Science Fields
A Novel Antibody With Immunostimulatory Function, Selectively Binding to KIR2DS1
KIR2DS1 specific antibodies that can stimulate immunotherapy and suppress autoimmune disease
Please note, header image is purely illustrative. Source: NIAID, Flickr, CCby2.0
Background
KIRs (Killer Cell Immunoglobulin Like Receptor) are transmembrane glycoproteins expressed by natural killer cells and subsets of T cells. The ligands for several KIR proteins are subsets of HLA class I molecules, thus, KIR proteins are thought to play an important role in regulation of the immune response. Among KIR proteins, some KIRs have immune-suppressive activities and others function as immune-enhancers. It has been difficult to develop antibodies for targeting specific KIRs and the low specificity of the antibody is thought to lead serious side effects.
Technology Overview
A researcher at Hokkaido University has developed a monoclonal antibody specific for KIR2DS1. KIR2DS1 is involved in enhancing the immune system and the agonistic antibody could have potential for cancer-immunotherapy. Induction of interferon gamma was confirmed in Cell assay experiments using PBMCs.
Figure 1. Expression of KIRs on the cell surface of Natural killer cells and some subsets of T-cells
Figure 2. Specificity of the antibodies from clones the university generated
Benefits
- High specificity for KIR2DS1, doesn’t bind to other KIRs
- Binding region was identified
- Agonistic antibody would be useful for cancer-immunotherapy therapy
Applications
- Cancer Immunotherapy
- Autoimmune diseases (RA, SLE, IBD, etc)
Opportunity
The university are looking for a partner that will license-in this antibody (patent) for clinical use.
Link
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