Lighting up biotherapeutics

在过去的十年里，几种基于抗体的生物疗法已经被开发出来用于治疗癌症。这些抗体通常被称为“靶向疗法”，它们与癌细胞表面受体结合，并引导它们走向细胞凋亡（程序性细胞死亡）。然而，同样的细胞表面受体也存在于健康细胞上，导致严重的副作用。如果能在癌细胞部位激活抗体与其抗原的结合，就能减少基于抗体的治疗方法的副作用。该项目的长期目标是开发出可以在癌细胞部位被光激活的抗体，从而减少治疗性抗体的副作用。

Over the last decade, several antibody-based biotherapeutics have been developed for treatment of cancer. These antibodies, often marketed as "targeted therapeutics", bind to cell surface receptors on cancer cells and direct them towards apoptosis (programmed cell death). However, the same cell surface receptors are also present on healthy cells, leading to severe side effects. If the binding of antibody to its antigen could be activated at the site of cancer cells, it would reduce the side effects of antibody-based therapeutics. The long-term goal of this project is to develop antibodies that can be activated by light at the site of cancer cells, thereby reducing the side effects of therapeutic antibodies.