Development of sc-RNA based methods for mAb identification and validation – Year two

The overall goal of this project is to develop more cost-effective methods for generating monoclonal antibodies (mAb) against cancer biomarkers. While the traditional protocols for mAb generation used by MédiMabs have been established decades ago, recent technological developments have opened the door to new, and potentially far more efficient, methodologies. In this project, we will research the use of single cell DNA sequencing as a method to rapidly identify mAb producing cells without performing traditional hybridoma fusions. At the same time, we will assess various approaches for the rapid expression and translation of sequenced clones to allow their functional validation. These experiments will be done in the context of several biomarkers that have been identified in a subgroup of pediatric acute myeloid leukemia (AML) identified by the Wilhelm lab. Because of the numerous potential advantages of this approach with respect to time and cost of mAb production, there is both a strong scientific as well as economic value underpinning the proposed work.

Faculty Supervisor:

Brian Wilhelm

Student:

Partner:

MediMabs

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Université de Montréal

Program: