Developing immune cell engagers for cancer therapeutics

An important role of the immune system is to detect and destroy cancerous cells in the body. Cancers, however, have developed the ability to hide and evade the immune system, allowing them to continue to grow unchecked. Immune cell engagers can direct the immune response to specific cells including cancerous cells. They have been shown to be effective at destroying cancer cells as a single therapy and have the potential to further enhance checkpoint inhibitor action as a dual therapeutic strategy. This project will involve the production of highly specific nanobodies from a yeast display library, protein engineering of the immune cell engagers, protein production and purification of cell surface receptors and engagers, protein biophysical characterisation and immune cell killing assays. The project is suited to students who are interested in protein structure and function, the immune system and enjoy wet lab work.