TC-Effektor - TC-Einfluss von Glykosylierung und Membrankrümmung auf IgG-Effektorfunktionen

Besides their role in neutralization, antibodies mediate various functions of the immune system such as phagocytosis, cytotoxicity and maintenance of immune homeostasis. For this reason, monoclonal antibodies are increasingly used in immunotherapy to eliminate infectious agents, immune regulatory cells or cancer cells. The ability and strength of monoclonal antibodies to induce the respective effector functions, depends (in addition to the IgG isotype) on the physiochemical properties of antigen and epitope, as well as the respective effector molecule (complement path: C1q; phagocytosis: Fc receptors). In this TIMED Center activity as well as the intended FWF follow-up project the influence of physiochemical properties like (I) (De) -glycosylation on the Fc fragment of antibodies, (II) as well as the influence of the curvature of antigen surfaces and the resulting epitope geometries (such as the curved surface of viruses like the HI virus) on the IgG effector functions are examined.