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Wednesday 11 May 2022 11:45 - 13:30

The Axe Santé is organising a Health Tech Lunch on Wednesday 11 May from 11:45 to 12:30 at Energypolis in Sion (room 19.N512).

Ario de Marco (University of Nova Gorica) obtained a PhD in biochemistry at the University of Udine (1994) and then did a post-doc at Michigan Tech University, CNRS-IBMP in Strasbourg and Novartis (Basel) before obtaining a position as Head of the Protein Facility at EMBL-Heidelberg (2000). During these years he developed his interest in recombinant antibodies and designed the first pre-immune nanobody library. In 2006 he accepted a position at IFOM-IEO (Milan) as Head of the Protein and Antibody Facility until he transferred to Institut Curie, Paris (2011) where he worked for three years as Head of the Therapeutic Antibody Group. He is an associate professor at the University of Nova Gorica since 2014. During the last 15 years he has been involved in the evolution in the field of nanobody technology by optimizing breading strategies to obtain binders to the native form of membrane proteins.

Metrics: Author of 126 scientific contributions in internationally recognized peer-reviewed journals and monographs. H-index 35 (Google Scholar), 4918 citations.

Recombinant ligands as tunable biotechnology tools 

Antibodies possess an unparalleled ability to bind selectively and with high affinity to their counterparts. For these reasons, they have been widely used in applications that rely on specific molecular recognition. Biosensors, nanoparticles and even cells can be functionalized with antibodies to improve sensitivity and target specificity. However, conventional antibodies (IgG) are large molecules (150 kDa) that are difficult to design. In recent years, antibody fragments as well as alternative scaffolds have become increasingly popular as an effective alternative. Nanobodies have gained enthusiasm due to their minimal mass (14 kDa), high stability and low immunogenicity in humans. The seminar will describe the general characteristics of nanobodies, the appropriate selection, production and engineering methodologies and illustrate some specific examples of biotechnological applications. In addition, it will anticipate some results obtained with adhirons, smaller ligands with promising biophysical properties.

Modeling of the p53:Twist1 interaction and of the interaction between p53 (open and closed conformations) and the nanobodies that compete with Twist1 for the same epitope

Programme:

  • 11h45 à 12h30 : Presentation
  • 12h30 à 13h30 : Lunch in the cafeteria

Registration : https://doodle.com/meeting/participate/id/lejGwAya