Lectures and seminars MBB external seminar: Ario de Marco "Nanobodies as a platform of flexible tools suitable for diversified biotechnological needs"
Seminar with Ario De Marco, University of Nova Gorica, about "Nanobodies as a platform of flexible tools suitable for diversified biotechnological needs".
Abstract
Antibodies possess unmet capacity to bind selectively and at high affinity their cognates. For this reason they have been largely used in applications which rely on specific molecular recognition. Biosensors, nanoparticles, and even cells can be functionalized with antibodies for improving sensitivity and target specificity. However, conventional antibodies (IgGs) are large molecules (150 kDa) that are difficult to engineer. In the last years, antibody fragments have become more and more popular as an effective alternative and specifically nanobodies raised enthusiasm because of their minimal mass (14 kDa), high stability and relative similarity to human sequences. The seminar will describe the general features of nanobodies, the suitable selection, production, and engineering methodologies and will illustrate some specific examples of biotechnological applications.