Research
Immunology of HCMV infections
Our research focuses the investigation of the human B-cell response in HCMV infections, thereby identifying relevant target structures among viral proteins which are responsible for high neutralizing activity and interfering with transmission in infected patients. Using state-of-the-art techniques, we aim to broaden the knowledge on HCMV epitopes with strong immunogenicity to provide new targets for specific therapeutic approaches and vaccine development.
Antibody development
Providing an innovative tool in pharmaceutical intervention of severe infection and to prevent transmission, we develop therapeutic antibodies against several target proteins of HCMV. In specific, we focus on antibodies against surface glycoproteins including the entry complex consisting of gB, gH/gL and accessory proteins, initiating receptor binding and membrane fusion. Therefore, we isolate single B-cells from individuals with HCMV infections, which show specific binding against the target protein, analyze and compare the sequence, and select high potency antibodies to be produced and tested for their neutralizing activity, binding capacity and target epitopes using competition assays and structural elucidation of epitope and binding conformation. We are also interested in the different effects depending on cell line and virus strain, and to identify antibodies with a broad activities to prevent resistance.
