Application of the SMALP system to generate antibodies for intact transmembrane proteins

近年来，跨膜蛋白的分析和开发已成为药物发现和生物学研究中最令人兴奋的领域之一。大约三分之一的蛋白质存在于膜中，它们的机制特别难以研究，因为它们通常只存在于少量并且难以处理。这些蛋白质通过与天然脂质相互作用而稳定下来，但目前研究它们的方法依赖于去除这些脂质的洗涤剂。我们开发了一种新的生物纳米颗粒，直接从天然膜中制备功能完整的蛋白质，维持局部脂质环境，并提出了针对这些靶点的抗体用于治疗和研究目的。这种新一代抗体将能够以前所未有的准确性对天然蛋白质状态进行特异性识别，并将有助于开发新的诊断测试和生物治疗剂，用于治疗癌症和许多传染性和遗传性疾病。

The analysis and exploitation of transmembrane proteins has recently become one of the most exciting areas of drug discovery and biological research. About a third of all proteins are found in membranes, their mechanisms are particularly difficult to study as they are often present only in small amounts and are difficult to handle. These proteins are stabilized by their interactions with native lipids but current methods to study them depend on detergents which strip these lipids away. We have developed a novel bionanoparticle to prepare functionally intact proteins directly from native membrane maintaining the local lipid environment and propose to develop antibodies to these targets for therapeutic and research purposes. This new generation of antibodies will allow specific recognition of native protein states with unprecedented accuracy, and will enable development of new diagnostic tests and biotherapeutic agents for treatment of cancer and many infectious and genetic diseases.