JHU/CCR Fellowship in Molecular Targets and Drug Discovery Technologies Project Details

Project Sponsor/Mentor:	Mitchell Ho
Title:	Principal Investigator
Address:	Building 37, Room 5002C 37 Convent Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892-4264
Telephone:	301-451-8727
Fax:	301-480-4667
Email:	homi@mail.nih.gov
Sponsoring Laboratory/Branch:	Laboratory of Molecular Biology

Project Title:	New anti-cancer human monoclonal antibodies
Target(s) of Interest:	mesothelin, CA125/MUC16, etc.

Project Synopsis:
Due to their low immunogenicity in patients, fully human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are the most desirable antibody format for clinical applications. The aim of this project is to isolate human monoclonal antibodies from human single-chain Fv (scFv) libraries by phage display. Selected human scFv molecules will be converted to whole human IgG molecules for further evaluation in vitro and in vivo. The newly identified human mAbs should have potential for cancer treatment and diagnosis.
Fellow Research Plan:
The student will learn to utilize a human Fv antibody library to identify a panel of Fvs that bind human cancer cells. The student will learn phage display and other antibody engineering techniques. Teh student will learn to use flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry, and other standard molecualr and cell biology techniques to characterize the Fvs and the tumor antigens. The student may convert the Fv molecules to human IgGs for potential clinical applications. The student will attend weekly lab meetings to present experimental data. The student will attend weekly Journal Club meetings and present recent papers. The student will attend seminars on the NIH Bethesda campus and other training activities required by the Univesity.