SC2: TARGETING OF ION CHANNELS WITH MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 | 2:00 - 5:00 PM

Room Location: Essex Center  

Ion channels are important therapeutic targets and currently represent the second largest target class addressed by therapeutic drugs. Significant opportunities exist for targeting ion channels with antibodies, but to date it has been challenging to discover therapeutic antibodies against them. This course will examine emerging technologies and strategies for enabling the isolation of functional anti-ion channel antibodies and highlight progress via case studies. The topics to be covered include: 1) antibody discovery, including methods to generate monoclonal antibodies and antigen preparation strategies; 2) assays to enable isolation of binding antibodies, including use of recombinant stable cell lines; 3) in vitro assays to measure functional activity of the antibody, including use of electrophysiology platforms and ion flux methods; and 4) review of promising ligand-gated and voltage-gated ion channel targets and antibodies in development.

Topics to be Discussed:

  • Overview of ion channels including structure, mechanism and role in diseases pain, cancer and inflammation
  • Methods for antibody discovery
  • Antibody quality and characterization
  • In vitro assays for antibody characterization
  • Review of mechanisms relevant to targeting ion channels
  • Review of ion channel-targeting antibodies in discovery and development

Instructor:

Wilkinson_TrevorTrevor Wilkinson, PhD, Associate Director, Antibody Discovery and Protein Engineering, AstraZeneca BioPharmaceuticals Unit, United Kingdom

Trevor is Associate Director in the Antibody Discovery and Protein Engineering (ADPE) department of the AstraZeneca BioPharmaceuticals Unit. In this role Trevor is responsible for therapeutic project delivery and the production of purified, high quality, proteins and biologics. Trevor holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Southampton and an MBA from the University of Hertfordshire.

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