Design of Actibodies For Triggered Recognition

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

1132860 Thomas, Wendy Recognition proteins such as antibodies have many applications in medicine and biotechnology, but antibodies are not optimized for many of these applications, leading to the recent development of libraries of recognition proteins with novel characteristics, which can be screened to identify proteins that bind a target of interest. In this project, the PI proposes to develop a library of regulated recognition proteins that can be triggered to bind or release on cue. Intellectual Merit: While methods have been developed to engineer regulated proteins in a modular way, these methods have not been applied to the development of diversity libraries in which the specificity can be arbitrarily changed without affecting the allosteric regulation. Broader Impacts: The technology developed in this project should enable improved separation technologies, self-assembled in vitro diagnostic devices, and in vivo molecular imaging or targeted therapeutics. This project will also increase the transfer of underrepresented students from community colleagues to a top engineering department in a four year university and train six undergraduate students in a research setting.