Bioinformatic Identification of Optimal Targets & Therapeutic Antibody Development

The somatic mutational processes that occur within human cancers generate novel, non-self proteins that have the potential to be detected by antibodies and therefore exploited therapeutically. Such antibodies can be generated through the stimulation of the immune system or through the synthetic generation of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). The nascent ability to determine the complete transcriptomes and genomes of tumours provides an unprecedented ability to detect other possible antigenic proteins and determine their potential applicability across a large number of tumour types and sub-types, both rare and common. Our goal is to develop a computational approach to identify potential therapeutic opportunities, examining protein coding changes across a large number of tumours sequenced within the Genome Sciences Centre and generated by other groups and consortia. This project will be a unique partnership with the Centre for Drug Research and Development in Vancouver, whereby targets identified in this project will be submitted for monoclonal antibody generation and pre-clinical evaluation.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. Steven Jones

Student:

Daryanaz Dargahi

Partner:

CDRD Ventures Inc.

Discipline:

Biochemistry / Molecular biology

Sector:

Life sciences

University:

Simon Fraser University