Project details

Antibodies have unparalleled target specificity and have revolutionised medicine. Despite this, conventional antibodies are restricted to extracellular antigens; they do not cross cell membranes and are unstable in the cytosol. As most disease-causing proteins are retained inside cells, being able to engineer and deliver antibodies to function intracellularly would unlock innumerable therapeutic targets for antibody targeting.

This project aims to use the mRNA encoding for single-chain antibodies (nanobodies), which have superior intracellular function, and deliver it into cells for therapeutic purposes via nanoparticle technology. The project will involve the generation of nanobodies and nanoparticles, and their therapeutic assessment in cancer and infection models. Therefore, it has the potential to bring the precision of antibody targeting into the intracellular space where most disease-driving molecules exist. 

About our research group

The Vince laboratory studies the biochemistry and molecular genetics of cell death and inflammatory signalling with the aim of delineating novel disease-related pathways in infections and autoinflammation (Immunity. 2022 Mar 8;55(3):423-441; Nat Commun. 2021 May 11;12(1):2713). More recently, with nanomedicine specialist Dr Deepagan Gopal and WEHI’s collaborative research partnership with Mermaid Bio GmbH, the Vince lab aims to develop new therapeutics against disease-causing cell death and inflammatory signalling proteins via harnessing mRNA and lipid nanoparticle technology, which have been used to considerable success in COVID-19 vaccines and the treatment of genetic disorders.