ANTIBODIES TO COMPLEX RECEPTORS

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): ViraCore is a biotechnology company that is creating a drug discovery tool that is capable of presenting complex receptors in a nanometer-sized particle format. Specific ally, ViraCore is using "lipoparticles", nanometer -sized particles surrounded by a lipid bilayer and embedded with membrane-bound receptors, to purify and solubilize complex receptors from the cell surface while maintaining their structuraI integrity. The purpose of this proposal is to use lipoparticles to develop monoclonal antibodies directed to conformationally complex epitopes of membrane- bound receptors. Many of the receptors and epitopes that we will target are difficult or, in some cases, impossible to target using traditional methods, including activated receptor conformations and intracellular structures. Lipoparticles present a unique technology for the development of important new classes of antibodies and vaccine candidates. This proposal focuses principally on antibodies to chemokine receptors, a class of membrane-bound receptors involved in HIV infection, AIDS pathogenesis, and immunity. However, the results of this proposal can have a broad impact on the development of antibodies, vaccines, and therapeutics against a wide variety of complex receptors.