Antibody modification platform for infectious diseases
Antibody modification technique that expands protective role during pregnancy and early infancy.
Technology Overview
Cincinnati Children's Hospital researchers in the Division of Infectious Diseases have developed a chemical modification approach for antibody development that may expand the scope of antibody-mediated protection during pregnancy and the neonatal period when T-cell mediated immunity is immature. A long-standing tenet of Immunology is that humoral immunity and cell-mediated adaptive immunity have non-overlapping roles, but many questions remained about how host defense is fine-tuned and implemented to mitigate vulnerability to infection during pregnancy and early life. For decades, immunologists believed that intracellular pathogens evaded antibody protection. Ground-breaking research has now shown that specific chemical modifications allow antibodies to play an alternate role in fetal protection by stimulation of immunity via receptor-mediated pathways that respond specifically to deacetylated sugars. This modification is a key element of a unique vertical immunity transfer strategy employed by pregnant mothers to provide an additional pathway to protect babies from intracellular infections. This newly characterized pathway may represent a platform for antibody modification that leads to improved therapies for bacterial and viral pathogens during and after pregnancy.
Applications
This technology is an antibody modification technique that produces antibodies with expanded capabilities for intracellular pathogens and related infectious diseases.
Advantages
*Novel antibody modification for pregnancy/neonatal infectious disease therapy *Provides pathway for expanded scope of Ab-mediated protection in neonates *Adapts novel techniques for expanding Ab protection to intracellular pathogens
Investigator Overview
John J. Erickson, M.D., Ph.D., Division of Neonatology and Pulmonary Biology Sing Sing Way, M.D., Ph.D., Division of Infectious Diseases
Technology ID
2021-0210
Business Opportunity
Exclusive License or Sponsored Research
Technology Type
Antibody
Stage of Development
Pre-Clinical - In Vivo
Patent Information
PCT Filed