Photoactivatable modulation of antibody binding

­Summary
The current technology involves a blocking construct that has the potential to increase antibody specificity and reduce unwanted off-target effects by modulating antibody activation in a manner that is predictable, reproducible and does not require genetic modification of the antibody sequence.

Technology Overview
Traditional antibodies cannot be temporally or spatially controlled, which can lead to unwanted side effects in therapeutic applications such as cancer immunotherapy, where both heathy and cancerous cells are targeted.

Oregon Health & Science University researchers have developed a novel system for controlled photoactivation of antibody binding to increase specificity in therapeutic and diagnostic applications.  Features of the technology include:

• A blocking construct that uses both covalent and non-covalent interactions with the antibody.
• Compatibility with a wide range of antibodies without the need for costly and time-consuming genetic modification of the antibody itself.
• Rapid activation of the “off-state” antibody with a single photocleavage event.
• Proof-of-concept studies demonstrating successful use of the blocking agent to 1) reduce antigen binding in the inactivated state, and 2) increase binding following UV exposure.
• More stable and reproducible antibody blocking in the “off-state” and more efficient activation to the “on-state” than previous tunable antibody approaches.

Publication
Brasino et al., “Turning antibodies off and on again using a covalently tethered blocking peptide” Commun Biol 5, 1357 (2022). Link

Licensing Opportunity
This technology is available for licensing.