i-shaped antibody engineering enables conformational tuning of biotherapeutic receptor agonists

<p>The paper describes a new approach to engineer antibodies to act as agonists for cell surface receptors, which has potential applications in developing new biotherapeutics. The authors developed a method to re-shape conventional Y-shaped antibodies into more compact, linear &ldquo;i-shaped&rdquo; antibodies (iAbs) by transplanting sets of mutations identified in naturally occurring broadly neutralizing antibodies against HIV. Adding a new approach to the antibody engineering tool box &mdash; iAb engineering.</p> <p>Three sets of mutations termed iAbdx, iAbaff1, and iAbaff2 were engrafted into panels of 10 antibodies targeting OX40 and induced the iAb shape, as confirmed by negative stain electron microscopy.&nbsp;</p> <p><a href="https://medium.com/@axialxyz/i-shaped-antibody-engineering-enables-conformational-tuning-of-biotherapeutic-receptor-agonists-bba32f521e7e"><strong>Website</strong></a></p>