Nordic Life Science 1
50 Protein structures determined using AlphaFold2
. ©Terezia Kovalova/ The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and better understand how life functions, including why some diseases develop or how antibiotic resistance occurs. J an Terje Andersen’s lab takes advantage of such tools to gain a better understanding of how proteins behave and how they interact to mediate immunological reactions. “We need to learn nature's rules and how they can be manipulated as such knowledge can be used to design protein variants with altered binding and transport properties. These engineered variants are not only great tools to study biology, but they can also lead to the development of biomedical technologies and therapeutic products that can be used to specifically treat diseases by avoiding adverse side effects,” he explains. For instance, his lab is part of the Centre of Excellence Precision Immunotherapy Alliance (PRIMA), where seven research groups are working together with the common aim to develop new precision immunotherapy strategies over the coming years. As part of this work, computational methods are crucial for engineering antibodies with a tailored mode of action and immune receptors that are engineered to specifically recognize and eradicate tumor cells. “In fact, one of the PIs and co-directors of PRIMA, Professor Johanna Olweus, is part of “MATCHMAKERS”, a team funded by a large Cancer Grand Challenges grant from Cancer Research UK and NIH, in which the laureate David Baker is also active,” says Terje Andersen. “The overall aim is to crack the code of how T cells recognize cancer cells by bridging structural biology and genetic screening with molecular modeling, computational biology, and AI. In addition, my lab has an on-going project with one of the spin-out companies from the Baker lab.” Designing new biomedical technologies The overall focus of Terje Andersen’s research is to gain in-depth insight into the cellular processes and molecular interplay underlying the functions of the two most abundant groups of proteins in blood, albumin and antibodies, and their respective receptors. H e and his colleagues use the knowledge gained from combining structural, computational, and biophysical approaches with cellular and in vivo studies to design new biomedical technologies, such as engineering recombinant proteins with improved functions. “These proteins can be used as scaffolds in the development of protein-based therapeutics and also subunit vaccines, both for invasive and non-invasive delivery strategies. For example, we recently published an article on a new technology that can be used to improve the pharmacokinetics of monoclonal antibodies and also to enhance the killing of cancer cells and bacteria via potent engagement of the complement system,” he says. “Importantly, we are collaborating extensively with biotech and pharmaceutical companies to enable the translation of our key findings and technologies into new solutions. Two years ago, we also spun out a biotech company called Authera AS from our lab, which has a unique technology platform that is used in collaboration with companies. We also hope to launch a new company next year.” NLS THE NOBEL PRIZE // CHEMISTRY