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The Department of Biomedicine

BBB seminar: Jan Terje Andersen

Pimping Molecules for Better Performance

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Jan Terje Andersen
Department of Immunology, Oslo University Hospital Rikshospitalet and Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo

The half-life of the two most abundant proteins in blood, immunoglobulin G (IgG) and serum albumin, is extraordinary and roughly 3 weeks in humans. This phenomenon secures a broad biodistribution throughout the body of both molecules. The long half-life has made IgG the natural choice for engineering of antibody-based therapeutics, while albumin is used as a fusion partner or carrier of drugs. Remarkably, the half-life of these unrelated proteins has been shown to be prolonged by a recycling pathway mediated by a common cell bound receptor named the neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn). In this seminar it will be discussed how structural and biochemical analyses are combined with cellular and in vivo studies to gain in-depth insights that guide design of novel albumin and antibody molecules with improved functions.

Chairperson: Aurora Martinez, Department of Biomedicine