ATG Biosynthetics Present their tANCHOR Technology at Biovalley
On 12 September 2018, Josef Maier and Hubert Bernauer, both part of the MycoSynVac team from ATG Biosynthetics, attended the BioValley meeting at Innocel in Lörrach, Germany where they presented some of the work done as part of the project. The participants were diverse, with representatives from industry and financing, small start-ups, consultants, clinicians, IT companies and students. The small size of the meeting meant it was a chance to get to know the Biovalley community and generate interest in the MycoSynVac project. The scope and targets of the project were of great interest to the participants, as was the outcome, especially the modified life vaccine approach.
There were questions about the most interesting new technologies applied at ATG Biosynthetics and as part of the MycoSynVac project. Some of the examples included whole genome editing of Mycoplasmas, the development of serum-free media and kill-switches for the life chassis vaccine.
Peptide Microarray Technologies
The development of new and innovative vaccines and diagnostic tools using nanotechnological devices and, especially, peptide microarray technologies drew much attention from the attendees. Peptide microarrays are used to screen epitopes (a specific piece of the antigen to which an antibody binds) and information about how peptide microarrays present antigenic epitopes to antibodies can be used to design vaccines.
The tANCHOR technology, developed by ATG, is an example of such an expression system. It works by fusing epitopes with the tANCHOR protein. Epitopes, for example from the HIV envelope, are inserted onto a carrier protein and are displayed on the surface of the cell in a sterically accessible configuration. This induces the production of antibodies directed against the epitopes displayed, and thus has important applications for systemic immunizations as a vaccine.
The Biovalley network meeting provided an important opportunity to present some of the contributions ATG have made to MycoSynVac. It was also a chance to share experiences gained as project partners that have helped to develop the PepID and tANCHOR technologies and services, deliver some key messages to a wider audience within the network, and open up additional opportunities for follow-up projects.
More information:
About the conference: Biovalley
About tAnchor: Absence of IL-10 production by human PBMCs co-cultivated with human cells expressing or secreting retroviral immunosuppressive domains