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Preparation and Characterization of Protein Binders Mimicking Epitopes of HIV-1 Neutralizing Antibodies
Šulc, Josef ; Malý, Petr (advisor) ; Novotný, Marian (referee)
For three decades, the ongoing HIV pandemic has taken the lives of tens of millions of people. Still, more tens of millions are fighting this incurable disease today. Current failures in combating this global problem are caused mainly by the virus's extreme ability of mutation, its very effective molecular shield which repels the immune system's attacks, and its immense variability. A breakthrough, achieved relatively recently, is the discovery of the so-called broadly neutralizing antibodies against HIV-1, which carry a very efficient and broad neutralizing response. So far, it's not known how to elucidate the production of these antibodies in the infected hosts to quell or altogether eliminate the virus. This work deals with experimental results, which led to both in vivo and in vitro proof-of-concept of the so-called protein mimetics, the ability to imitate viral surface epitopes, and therefore stimulate an efficient immune response carried by targeted broadly neutralizing antibodies. This effect is mediated by recombinant binding proteins, based on the Myomedin scaffold. This work describes the selection and characterization of these binding proteins mimicking the epitopes of one of the most effective broadly neutralizing antibodies, 10E8. It shows that the binding affinities of selected...
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Protein engineering as a tool for the production of antibody derivatives
Šulc, Josef ; Bařinka, Cyril (advisor) ; Mikulecký, Pavel (referee)
This thesis deals with production and properties of disulfide-stabilized single-chain variable fragments of the 5D3 antibody (dsscFv), which specifically recognizes and binds to glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCPII), an antigen closely related to the prostate carcinoma processes and other tumor diseases. Small antibody fragments are in current focus of development of diagnostic and therapeutic reagents. However, compromised stability of antibody derivatives often results in low production yield or loss of function. Introduction of structural changes by protein engineering is often used to solve the issue. The aim of the study was based on enhancement of protein stability by the introduction of interdomain disulfide bond into the structure of single-chain variable fragment. The effect of modification was evaluated by estimation of production yield and affinity of studied protein. The aforementioned antibody derivative was produced using an Escherichia coli expression system, using specific signal sequences leading the production to the bacterial periplasm. The attempted stabilization was carried out by introducing mutations at LV-G44 and HV-G100 positions, replacing glycines with cysteines. The binding affinity of the derivative for human GCPII was determined using ELISA. This thesis also shows a solved 3D...
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