Activation of the immune system during photodynamic therapy (PDT) and improvement of the effector functions of mAbs - these are the ways to use and enhance the potential of the immune system to fight cancer. Tumor cells lack β-glucan as a surface compo¬nent and can‘t trigger complement receptor 3-dependent cellular cytoto¬xicity and initiate tumor-killing activity during PDT. So, it gave rise to the hypothesis that β-glucan in combination with PDT will produce more effective killing of by iC3b fragment opsonized tumor cells. The human Fc portion is essential for the recruiting of human effector immune cells to produce antitumor effect. Therefore, connection of Fv portion of murine anti-CD7 antibody with Fc portion of human IgG1 can be helpful for such protein to obtain ideal feathers. However, each modification of the monoclonal antibody can cause the lost or decrease in the rate of protein expression and antigen-binding properties. Monoclonal antibody products are unique in their molecules. Because of post-translational modifications that often occur during the fermentation process, the final product is heterogeneous. Therefore, careful characterization of monoclonal antibodies is required in order to assess their identity, purity, potency and safety. Response of Lewis lung carcinoma tumor to PDT modulated by β-glucan was assessed in mice and functional characteristics of novel purified chimeric anti-CD7 antibody was tested in this study. / Imuninės sistemos aktyvinimas taikant fotosensibilizacinę terapiją (FNT) ir monokloninių antikūnų efektorinių funkcijų gerinimas yra vienas iš būdų, kaip naudoti ir sustiprinti organizmo imuninės sistemos veiksnių potencialą kovai su naviku. Navikinės ląstelės membranos paviršiuje nėra β-gliukano, todėl FNT metu negali būti aktyvinamas nuo komplemento receptoriaus 3 priklausomas ląstelės citotoksiškumo mechanizmas bei sukeliama navikinės ląstelės žūtis. Todėl galima tikėtis, kad β-gliukanas ir FNT, taikomi kartu, gali aktyvinti iC3b frag¬mento opsonizuotų navikinių ląstelių žūtį. Norint aktyvinti žmogaus imunines ląsteles priešnavikiniam poveikiui sukelti, pelės monokloniniam antikūnui būtina žmogaus imunoglobulino Fc dalis. Todėl pelės antikūno prieš CD7 vienos grandinės Fv fragmento sujungimas su žmogaus imunoglobulino G1 Fc dalimi baltymui gali suteikti idealias savybes. Tačiau, bet kokia monokloninio antikūno modifikacija gali keisti jo savybes ir, išskiriant baltymą, dėl daugiapakopio proceso ji gali keistis. Todėl, norint įvertinti chimerinio CD7-Fc antikūno identiškumą, grynumą, veiksmingumą bei saugumą, būtina atlikti tyrimus, kuriais būtų galima nustatyti, ar antikūnas išlaiko specifiškumą antigenui, kaip aktyviai jungiasi prie jo, ar aktyvina imuninius mechanizmus. Šio tyrimo metu buvo vertintas pelėms įskiepytos Luiso plaučių karcinomos atsakas į FNT moduliaciją β-gliukanu ir išgrynintas chimerinis antikūnas prieš CD7 bei ištirtos jo funkcinės savybės in vitro.

Submitted by Priscila Nascimento (pnascimento@icict.fiocruz.br) on 2012-11-19T11:45:26Z No. of bitstreams: 1 aline-stelling-zanatta.pdf: 2385669 bytes, checksum: 6f759289878ca2d698465044b392ae3f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2012-11-19T11:45:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 aline-stelling-zanatta.pdf: 2385669 bytes, checksum: 6f759289878ca2d698465044b392ae3f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto de Tecnologia em Imunobiológicos. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil / Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Oswaldo Cruz. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. / Desde o trabalho de Köhler e Milstein (1975), hibridomas tem sido cultivados para obtenção de anticorpos monoclonais com finalidade de uso em pesquisa, diagnóstico e terapia. O método tradicional de obtenção de anticorpos monoclonais em altas concentrações é através de indução de ascite em camundongos. Estatécnica vem sendo substituída por cultivos de hibridomas em altas concentrações celulares. Neste trabalho, foram cultivados hibridomas secretores de anticorpos monoclonais anti-dengue tipo 2 em frascos T, garrafas rotatórias (roller) e frascos do tipo spinner, utilizando-se o meio DMEM, suplementado com soro fetal bovino a 10%, e o meio comercial livre de soro animal Ex-Cell® TiterHigh TM (Sigma). Ao longo dos diferentes cultivos, foram avaliadas a concentração celular, viabilidade celular e as concentrações de nutrientes (glicose eglutamina), metabólitos (lactato e amônio) e produto (IgG). A partir dos resultados obtidos, foram calculadas as grandezas representativas do metabolismo celular: concentração máxima de células (X máx), taxa específica de crescimento celular (µexp), tempo de duplicação (td) e coeficientes de rendimento de glicose em células (YX/glc), glutamina em células (Y X/gln), células em produto (YP/X), glutamina em amônio (YNH4/gln), glicose em lactato (Ylac/glc), glicose em produto (YP/glc) e glutamina em produto (YP/gln). O meio livre de soro mostrou ser capaz de fornecer melhores condições para o crescimento celular (alcançando 4 x 106 céls/mL), mantendo a viabilidade por um período maior de tempo, nos três sistemas decultivo testados. Quanto à formação de produto, no meio livre de soro, os hibridomas também secretaram altas concentrações de IgG, alcançando níveis de 3 µg/mL. Os melhores resultados de crescimento e viabilidade celular foram observados em garrafas rollera 40 rpm (após adaptação a rotações inferiores) e a produção de IgG foi maior em garrafas rollera 16 rpm (também após adaptação a rotações inferiores) e em frascos do tipo spinner a 50 rpm (após adaptação a rotações inferiores em garrafas rolleraté 40 rpm). Quando foram comparadas as concentrações de IgG entre os sobrenadantes de cultivo e três amostras de fluido ascítico do mesmo hibridoma, foi observado que o fluido ascítico continha concentrações 10 a 20 vezes maiores que as obtidas nos sobrenadantes de cultivo. Entretanto, como os volumes de sobrenadantes de cultivo são significativamente maiores do que os de fluido ascítico de camundongos, infere-se que é viável a substituição da produção in vivopela obtenção do anticorpo monoclonal estudado neste trabalho em sistemas agitados, utilizando-se meio livre de soro animal. Contudo, sugere-se a condução de experimentos adicionais para confirmação da total viabilidade da obtenção de anticorpos monoclonais anti-dengue tipo2 in vitroutilizando o processo proposto no presente trabalho. / Since Köhler and Milstein’s work (1975), hybridoma cells have been cultured to obtain monoclonal antibodies for research, diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. The traditional method to obtain high concentrations (5 to 10 mg/mL) of the monoclonal antibodies is the induction of ascite in mice. This technique is being replaced by high cell density cultivations. In this work, hybridoma secreting anti-dengue type 2 monoclonal antibodies were cultivated in T flasks, roller bottles and spinner flasks, using DMEM medium supplemented with fetal bovine serum at 10%, and the commercial serum-free medium Ex-Cell® TiterHigh TM (Sigma). Cell concentration, cell viability, as well as concentration of nutrients (glucose and glutamine), metabolites (lactate and amonium) and product (IgG) were evaluated along culture time in the different media and culture systems. Based on these data, variables that reflect the cell metabolism were calculated: maximum cell concentration (Xmáx), specific cell growth rate (µexp), duplication time (td), as well as the yield coefficients of glucose to cells (YX/glc), glutamine to cells (YX/gln), cells to product (YP/X), glutamine to ammonium (Y NH4/gln), glucose to lactate (Ylac/glc), glucose to product (YP/glc) and glutamine to product (YP/gln). Among the culture media, the serum-free medium showed to provide better conditions for cell growth (reaching 4 x 106 cells/mL), keeping high cell viabilities for a longer period, in all three tested culture systems. Concerning product formation, hybridoma also released high IgG concentrations (3 µg/mL) in the serum-free medium. Among the culture systems, the best results for cell growth and viability were found inroller bottles at 40 rpm (after adaptation under lower rotation rates) and IgG production was higher in roller bottles at 16 rpm (after adaptation under lower rotation rates) and in spinner flasks at 50 rpm (after adaptation under lower rotation rates in roller bottles, up to 40 rpm). The IgG concentrations ascitic fluid presented concentrations 10 to 20 times higher thanthose obtained in culture supernatants. However, since the volumes of culture supernatant obtained in relatively simple, small-scale culture systems are significantly higher than thoseof mice ascitic fluids, the replacement of in vivoproduction for in vitroIgG production in stirred systems, using serum-free media, seems to be feasible. Nevertheless, additional experiments should be carried out to confirm the feasibility of switching the production of anti-dengue type 2 monoclonal antibodies for in vitrosystems, using the process proposed in this work.

Le polymorphisme et le polygénisme des complexes majeurs d’histocompatibilité (CMH) limitent les succès de la transplantation. En effet, les disparités, tant d’antigènes mineurs que majeurs, exposent le patient transplanté au risque de rejet et imposent l’administration d’un traitement immunosuppresseur. Ce dernier affecte de façon non spécifique l’ensemble des réponses immunitaires et augmente le risque d’infections mortelles et de cancers. En outre, ce traitement ne semble pas prévenir le rejet chronique. <p>Des découvertes récentes ont confirmé l’existence de lymphocytes appelés régulateurs (Tregs) dont le rôle est de garantir l’homéostasie des réponses immunes afin qu’elles ne deviennent incontrôlées et pathologiques. Les Tregs classiquement décrits expriment de manière constitutive l’antigène CD4+, la chaîne alpha du récepteur de l’interleukine (IL)-2 (CD25) et le facteur de transcription Foxp3. Ils représentent 5 à 10% des lymphocytes CD4+ totaux. Les Tregs sont capables de réguler des lymphocytes alloréactifs et ont été décrits comme responsables du maintien de la tolérance d’allogreffe chez la souris. Mais jusqu'alors, les modèles employés pour démontrer l'importance des Tregs en transplantation utilisaient soit un traitement immunosuppresseur transitoire, soit des transferts de cellules T dans des souris lymphopéniques. <p>Toutefois, ces derniers ne permettent pas de distinguer l'effet des Tregs sur la prolifération homéostatique des lymphocytes effecteurs de leur effet sur la réponse allogénique.<p>Dans notre travail, nous montrons que les Tregs jouent un rôle prépondérant dans l’acceptation spontanée d’allogreffes en l’absence d’immunosuppresseur et en dehors d’un contexte lymphopénique chez la souris. En effet, la déplétion des Tregs du receveur par l’administration d’anticorps anti CD25 amplifie les réponses allogéniques de type Th1 et Th2 et, par conséquent, déclenche le rejet d’allogreffe. Les propriétés régulatrices des Tregs ne sont cependant pas illimitées. En effet, dans un second travail, nous décrivons, d’une part, leur incapacité à contrôler la production d’IL-17 par des lymphocytes CD4+CD25pos mémoires et, d’autre, part leur implication directe dans la différenciation de cellules Th17 au départ de lymphocytes CD4+CD25neg alloréactifs.<p>Nous concluons donc que si les Tregs naturellement présents chez le receveur jouent un rôle primordial dans la protection du greffon contre des réponses de type Th1 ou Th2, ils pourraient néanmoins favoriser une voie alterne du rejet d’allogreffe dépendante de l’IL 17.<p>/<p>Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) polymorphism is a major hindrance to transplantation success. Both minor and major antigen disparities between donor and recipient increase the risk of transplant rejection. This is thwarted by the administration of an immunosuppressive therapy that unspecifically affects all immune responses therefore increasing the risk of infections and cancers. Besides, this treatment does not seem to prevent chronic rejection.<p>Recent studies have confirmed the existence of lymphocytes called regulatory T cells (Tregs), whose role is to maintain the general immune homeostasis and to protect the individual from autoimmune diseases.<p>The classically described Tregs express constitutively the CD4 antigen, the alpha chain of the interleukin (IL)-2 receptor (CD25) and the transcription factor Foxp3. They represent 5 to 10% of total CD4+ T cells. Tregs are able to control alloreactive responses and were described to be responsible for the maintenance of allograft tolerance in mice. So far, the tolerogenic capacities of Tregs have been demonstrated either in mice treated with immunomodulatory antibodies (induced Tregs) or by adoptive co-transfer of Tregs and effector cells into lymphopenic mice. However, the latter has the disadvantage of not being able to distinguish the effect of Treg on lymphopenia-induced homeostatic proliferation from their effect on alloreactive responses. <p>Herein, we show that Tregs play a crucial role in spontaneously accepted allografts in the absence of immunosuppressive therapy and in non-lymphopenic condition. Indeed, the depletion of the recipient’s Tregs through the administration of an anti-CD25 antibody enhances type Th1 and type-Th2 allogeneic responses, consequently triggering allograft rejection. However, the regulatory properties of Tregs are not unlimited. Indeed, we found that Tregs are unable to control allogeneic IL-17 production by memory CD4+ T cells and are even necessary for de novo Th17 differentiation. <p>We conclude, therefore, that Tregs naturally present in the recipient play a critical role in protecting the allograft. Nevertheless, despite this context of regulation, IL-17-producing alloreactive T cells, beyond the control of Tregs, could mediate an alternative pathway of allograft rejection. / Doctorat en Sciences médicales / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Les anticorps monoclonaux (mAb) sont d’importants agents thérapeutiques largement utilisés dans le traitement de cancers. Ces protéines recombinantes complexes sont généralement produites dans des lignées cellulaires de mammifères et l’industrie pharmaceutique a développé des procédés robustes permettant d’obtenir de grandes quantités d’anticorps monoclonaux de qualité constante. Une tendance générale observée aujourd’hui est d’éviter l’utilisation de produits d’origine animale dans ces procédés. En effet, ces composés représentent un risque de contamination du médicament par des agents infectieux et les autorités règlementaires renforcent leurs exigences pour leur retrait des procédés de fabrication. Ces composés sont par ailleurs mal définis et posent des problèmes de variabilité des procédés de production. L’objectif de ce projet était de développer un milieu sans dérivés animaux pour la culture d’une lignée cellulaire Sp2/0 utilisée par la société Merck Serono pour exprimer un anticorps monoclonal thérapeutique. Le procédé de fabrication actuel contient de la sérum albumine bovine (BSA) et de l’EX-CYTE (concentré commercial de lipoprotéines et acides gras) extraits de sérum bovin. Le retrait des deux composés du milieu de culture a entrainé une diminution de la productivité du procédé de 87% et il a été observé que l’EX-CYTE et la BSA étaient essentiels pour la survie de notre lignée cellulaire Sp2/0. La BSA a permis à elle seule de remplacer l’EX-CYTE dans le procédé et a été utilisée comme modèle pour le développement d’un remplacement sans dérivés animaux. Une étude de caractérisation de la préparation de BSA a été effectuée afin d’identifier les facteurs responsables de son activité promotrice pour la croissance cellulaire. Les lipides représentaient une partie importante de cette activité mais un rôle significatif d’autres protéines contaminantes a été révélé. Enfin, un supplément lipidique sans dérivés animaux a été développé. Ce supplément était constitué d’un mélange de quatre acides gras (les acides oléique, linoléique, palmitique et stéarique) couplés à de la sérum albumine humaine recombinante (rHSA). Le supplément acides gras-rHSA a permis de remplacer l’EX-CYTE et la BSA et un milieu sans composés d’origine animale a finalement été obtenu. / Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are important therapeutics widely used for cancer therapy. Mammalian cell lines are usually employed to produce these complex recombinant proteins and the pharmaceutical industry has developed robust processes that deliver large quantities of mAbs with a sustained quality. A general trend observed today is to avoid the use of animal-derived components in such processes. Indeed, these compounds represent a potential risk of contamination of the final drug product with infectious agents and regulatory authorities are putting pressure for their removal from manufacturing processes. Such compounds are also ill defined and source of variability for the production processes. The goal of this project was to develop an animal-derived component free (ADCF) medium for the culture of an Sp2/0 cell line used by the company Merck Serono to express a therapeutic mAb. The manufacturing process currently used contains bovine serum albumin (BSA) and EX-CYTE (a commercial concentrate of lipoproteins and fatty acids) sourced from bovine serum. The removal of both components from the cell culture medium decreased the productivity of the process by 87%. EX-CYTE and BSA were found to be essential for the survival of our Sp2/0 cell line. BSA, which was found to replace EX-CYTE in the process, was used as a model for the development of an animal-derived component free replacement. A characterization of the BSA preparation was carried out to identify the factors responsible for its growth-promoting activity. Lipids accounted for a major part of the activity of the BSA preparation but a significant role of other protein contaminants was revealed. Finally, an animal-derived component free lipid supplement was developed. This supplement consisted in a mixture of four fatty acids (FA) (oleic, linoleic, palmitic and stearic acids) complexed with recombinant human serum albumin (rHSA). The FA/rHSA supplement could substitute for EX-CYTE and BSA and an ADCF medium was finally obtained.

Epidemiological, experimental, and clinical observations provide support for a colorectal cancer chemopreventive role for aspirin. We have evaluated the effects of aspirin on proliferation biomarkers in normal-risk and high-risk human subjects for colorectal cancer. Colorectal biopsies were obtained at baseline and at 24h after 28 daily doses of 81mg of aspirin from 13 high-risk and 15 normal-risk subjects for colorectal cancer. We evaluated aspirin's effects on proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) immunohistochemistry and epithelial mucin histochemistry using the lectin, Amaranthus caudatus agglutinin (ACA) in crypt sections from rectal biopsies. The baseline whole crypt PCNA LIs differed significantly between normal-risk and high-risk subjects. PCNA LIs are not affected by 28 days of aspirin at 81mg daily. ACA LIs are decreased by 28 days of aspirin at 81mg daily in both normal-risk and high-risk subjects. Aspirin's effects on ACA LIs may have mechanistic and biological implications that deserve further attention. PCNA and ACA LIs are not useful as proliferation biomarkers for aspirin's chemopreventive activity in morphologically normal human colorectal mucosa.

Biologiska läkemedel har under det senaste århundradet utökats, och under de senaste 25 åren så har proportionen av godkända biologiska läkemedel har ökat för behandlingen av sjukdomar, vaccin, och diagnostik. Det finns flera olika mekanismer för protein aggregering, och en av dessa är seeding, vilket innebär aggregering inducerat av tillsatta aggregat eller förekomsten av strukturförändringar i proteinet. I detta examensarbete har två terapeutiska proteiner, Somatropin och en monoklonal antikropp, studerats i form av aggregering. Denna studie har utförts genom att värma en del av proteinlösningen för att bilda aggregat och strukturförändrat protein, och sedan blanda detta med nativt protein till olika volymprocent. Dessa lösningar förvarades i olika temperaturer, 4°C, RT och 40°C för att undersöka temperaturberoendet. Med Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) mättes storleksfördelningen och medelstorleken på proteinet, vilket visade att de seedade proverna ökade i medelstorlek med tiden. Detta indikerar att seedingen inducerade aggregering med tiden. / Biological pharmaceuticals have expanded their use over the last decade, and during the recent 25 years, the proportion of approved biologics has increased for the treatment of diseases, vaccines, and diagnostics. There are several aggregation mechanisms, and one is seeding, i.e., aggregation induced by pre-formed aggregates or the presence of conformational changed proteins. In this master thesis, two therapeutic proteins, Somatropin and one monoclonal antibody have been studied in terms of aggregation. The study has been performed by heating a part of a protein solution to induce aggregation and mixing this with native protein in different volume percentages. These were stored in different temperatures, 4°C, RT, and 40°C, to investigate the temperature dependence. With Dynamic light scattering (DLS), the size distribution and the average-sized particles were measured. This showed that there was a growth of average size in the seeded samples with time. This indicates that the seeding induced aggregation with time.

Étant donné l'immunogénicité de l’antigène Dal et sa prévalence élevée (> 98% des chiens sont Dal-positifs), il peut être extrêmement difficile de trouver du sang compatible pour un patient Dal-négatif précédemment transfusé et ayant besoin d’une deuxième transfusion sanguine. De plus, l’accès aux réactifs pour le typage sanguin est actuellement limité, notamment parce qu'il dépend d’anticorps polyclonaux (AcP) produits à la suite de la sensibilisation de trois rares chiens Dal-négatifs identifiés sporadiquement au cours de la dernière décennie dans la colonie d'enseignement de la Faculté de médecine vétérinaire de l'Université de Montréal. Par conséquent, l’objective de cette étude était de produire et de caractériser un anticorps monoclonal murin (AcM) dirigé contre l’antigène canin Dal afin d’assurer la pérennité du typage sanguin Dal. Utilisant la technologie conventionnelle des hybridomes, 5 souris femelles BALB/c ont été immunisées par des injections intrapéritonéales répétées avec des concentrés de globules rouges canines lavés (GRc) Dal-positifs jusqu'à ce que le titrage d’anticorps soit suffisant (> 1 : 10000). Après la fusion de cellules spléniques avec des cellules de myélome, 573 surnageants ont été récoltés à partir du jour 12 post-fusion pour le dépistage avec la technique d'agglutination sur colonne de gel utilisant des GRc Dal-négatif et Dal-positif connus. Parmi 15 surnageants qui ont montré une réaction d’agglutination, un seul avait le patron souhaité (c'est-à-dire anti-Dal). Afin d’évaluer la spécificité et la sensibilité de l’AcM, le typage sanguin Dal de 62 échantillons de GRc a été réalisé en utilisant le AcM anti-Dal et deux AcP canins préalablement caractérisés: 45 échantillons Dal-positifs et 17 Dal-négatifs ont été identifiés avec une concordance de 100 % entre les réactifs (kappa = 1). L’AcM anti-Dal produit a été déterminé comme étant une IgG1. / Given the immunogenicity of the Dal antigen and its high prevalence (>98% of dogs are Dal-positive), it can be extremely difficult to find compatible blood for a previously transfused Dal-negative patient in need of a second blood transfusion. Moreover, access to blood typing reagents is currently limited, in part because it relies on polyclonal antibodies (PAb) produced following the sensitization of three rare Dal-negative dogs identified sporadically over the last decade in the teaching colony of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Montreal. Therefore, the objective of this study was to produce and characterize a murine monoclonal antibody (MAb) directed against the canine Dal antigen, to ensure perennity for Dal blood typing. Using conventional hybridoma technology, 5 BALB/c female mice were immunized by repeated intraperitoneal injections with Dal-positive washed canine red blood cell (cRBC) concentrates until antibody titer was sufficient (>1 : 10000). After fusion of splenic cells with myeloma cells, 573 supernatants were collected starting 12 days post-fusion for screening with the gel column agglutination technique using known Dal-negative and Dal-positive cRBC. Among 15 supernatants that showed an agglutination reaction, only one had the desired pattern (i.e., anti-Dal). To assess the specificity and sensitivity of the MAb, the Dal blood typing of 62 cRBC samples was performed using the anti-Dal MAb and two previously characterized canine PAb: 45 Dal-positive and 17 Dal-negative samples were identified with 100% agreement between reagents (kappa = 1). The anti-Dal MAb produced was determined to be IgG1.

<p>Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) as therapeutic proteins have shown great potential in treatment of various human diseases because of their highly specific nature. This has attracted worldwide attention leading to increased demand for such mAb products. To meet this demand large scale manufacturing is carried out using recombinant mammalian cell culture techniques for high yields and faster production. mAb products are worth the investment if produced in their native state. The quantity of mAb present in such cell cultures is very less and therefore special care is needed while handling them. Purifying antibody molecules from heterogeneous cell culture impurities and maintaining their native functional state is a critical task mainly because these antibodies are labile in nature. Care also need to be exercised during processing because mAbs have inherent tendancy to aggregate which is undesirable since such aggregates in antibody formulation produces immunogenic reaction when injected in humans. The other important factor in mAb purification is the processing cost involved since majority of the total production cost is utilized for purification of mAb. Protein-A chromatography is the first choice for purifying antibodies and is widely adopted. However failure in distinguishing between monomer and aggregate antibody molecules along with harsh acidic processing conditions necessitates the use of further purification steps.</p> <p>In this work various techniques for mAb processing are discussed and are outlined below:</p> <p>Removal of impurities from mAbs is a major challenge and this thesis discusses various processing options available to purify these mAbs. Impurities in mAb products are usually the aggregate byproducts formed due to unfolded monomer antibody molecules. These molecules are naturally hydrophobic in nature and display great differences in hydrophobicity on aggregation. Hydrophobic interaction membrane chromatography (HIMC) makes use of this hydrophobicity difference and helps in removal of aggregate impurities from monomer antibody.</p> <p>Heavy chain mAbs (hcmAbs) are promising new developments in the area of biopharmaceuticals because of their unique structural composition. Similar to conventional mAbs these hcmAbs are also rapidly finding their way into therapeutic markets. Purifying hcmAbs will be an important step in their development and for this purpose we use HIMC technique for removing impurities and obtain pure product.</p> <p>Antibody molecules are almost always lost as aggregates which leads to great economic losses and the ability to disaggregate these mAb oligomers would be of significant practical and scientific interest. In this work a novel thermalcycling technique is discussed to disaggregate such mAb oligomers and potentially recover functional monomer mAb molecules.</p> / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

No description available.

Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) is a recently discovered human virus, having it's genome often integrated in a genome of Merkel carcinoma cells. Although this type of carcinoma is not so usual, it is very aggressive and it's incidence has been rising in last few years. It is not surprising that this virus is nowadays in the centre of scientific interest, as well as other pathogens and mechanisms affecting human life. Because the virus was discovered not so long ago, its research has been at the whole beginning. This diploma thesisaims to contribute to the study of this virus from the molecular-virology point of view. A neutralizing monoclonal antibody, type IgG2a, targeted against the main capsid protein of MCPyV, VP1, and recognizing its conformational epitote was prepared. This antibody was then used for a pilot study of VP1 VLPs MCPyV movement in mammalian cells. Results showed that the studied virus, at least particularly, utilizes caveolin-1-carrying vesicles for its movement in cells (colocalisation of VP1 VLPs and caveolin-1 was observedColocalisation with EEA1 marker of early endosomes, LamP2 marker of endolysosomal compartments or with BiP marker of endoplasmic reticulum was sporadic but significant. These preliminary results suggest that MCPyV might utilise an endocytic pathway leading...