IL-4 Fusion Proteins: Boosting the Immune Response
- Detailed Technology Description
- A method for producing efficiently monoclonal antibodies with fusion proteins
- Others
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None
- *Abstract
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Antibodies are often developed using recombinantly expressed proteins. This process involves the expression of fusion proteins that are comprised of the protein, an enzyme digestion site, and a tag that is employed to simplify the purification process of the recombinant protein. Prior to immunizing animals for antibody production, these tags are removed by targeting the enzyme digestion site to avoid inducing the production of antibodies against the tag itself.
This method, however, has limitations when attempting to develop specific antibodies against proteins that are not soluble, difficult to express, or are not secreted. Attempts to develop antibodies targeting these types of proteins very often result in non-specific and ineffective antibodies.
Cornell researchers have developed a novel system and method of using interleukin 4 (IL-4) as a tag on recombinant proteins to generate highly specific antibodies against targets for which good antibodies have thus far been proven difficult to develop.
Potential Applications & Advantages:
The IL-4 fusion protein system represents a simple and superior method of eliciting a robust immune response to immunogens in their native form with potential applications as follows:
- Development of monoclonal antibodies as potential therapeutics
- Development of superior monoclonal antibodies as research reagents for difficult to express and/or target proteins
- Vaccine component
The IL-4 fusion proteins may also be used in protein crystal structure analysis to determine 3-D structures.
- *Licensing
- Phillip Owhpo62@cornell.edu607-254-4508
- Country/Region
- USA
