Professor Dan Mulvihill (School of Biosciences) has recently received a Medical Research Council (MRC) funded grant for his research on laboratory produced antibodies.
Antibodies are proteins, generated by blood cells within the body, which recognise a specific target, or “antigen” to elicit an immune response. In this way antibodies recognise and respond to a wide range of infectious agents (e.g. bacteria) and pathologies. This property has made laboratory produced antibodies a powerful tool in the diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions, including cancer. However due to technical limitations, laboratory produced antibodies are currently expensive to produce, even at a commercial scale. The Mulvihill lab, at the University of Kent, have developed a novel recombinant protein production system that packages proteins in membrane bound packages, using simple unicellular bacterial cells. The recombinant vesicles can be packaged with different types of protein, and even multi-protein, such as antibodies.
In this MRC funded project, researchers in the Mulvihill group are using this patented technology to produce different types of antibody in the laboratory. In collaboration with Fujifilm-Diosynth Biotechnologies UK they will also test their production at smaller commercial scale, to validate the concept of producing low cost antibodies for use in a diagnostic setting. Finally, in collaboration with Mr Sashi Kommu, Consultant Urological Surgeon at the East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust, their use as diagnostic reagents will be tested in a clinical setting. For more information, please watch the Youtube video below:
Congratulations to Dan on this achievement.