Leeds-led consortium secures €3m to pioneer next-generation antibody and cell therapies
Researchers from across Europe, led by the University of Leeds, have joined forces to improve the production of antibody and cell-based therapies.
Many proteins are modified by the addition of sugars, known as glycans, which have profound effects on their function, but often, a complex mixture of different glycans is found on proteins and cells.
Through the €3 million project IMProGlyco, the international consortium will develop a new strategy to generate therapeutics with defined glycosylation patterns critical to their biological and medicinal activity. The team hopes this will enable more patients to benefit from next-generation anti-cancer treatments, such as CAR-T therapy.
IMProGlyco was one of only 40 out of 1,189 proposals funded through the highly competitive European Innovation Council Pathfinder Open scheme. It was the only successful project led from the UK.
The Leeds team, including FBS Head of School of Molecular & Cellular Biology, Professor Darren Tomlinson and BioScreening Technology Group Manager, Dr Christian Tiede, is joined by experts from the University of York, Oslo Metropolitan University, the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), Oslo University Hospital, GlycoSeLect, and the Centre for Process Innovation.
Researchers at each institution will combine a unique blend of expertise across glycosciences, such as protein production and engineering, cell biology, analytical mass spectrometry, and machine learning.
Through this partnership, the consortium will develop a method to controllably modify the glycans found on a given cell or protein in a controlled fashion for the first time.
Successful development of the IMProGlyco methodology will enable:
- Optimised glycosylation patterns to improve the therapeutic potency, stability, and immune response of biologics;
- Enhanced production efficiency by developing bioprocessing techniques that allow precise control over glycan structures;
- Enabled reproducibility of glycan modification processes in biopharmaceutical production, ensuring cost-effective manufacturing; and
- An exploration of the role of glycans in the biological system, potentially reducing adverse immune reactions and improving therapeutic behaviour.
Professor Michael Webb, Director of Research and Innovation in the School of Chemistry, and coordinator of IMProGlyco, said:
Glycans play a crucial role in the function of biological molecules, yet our inability to modify these at will means that we often don’t understand this process.
Glycans play a crucial role in the function of biological molecules, yet our inability to modify these at will means that we often don’t understand this process.
Professor Michael Webb,
This project will allow us to explore an innovative approach to glycan tailoring, bringing us closer to the next generation of biologics and cell therapies with optimised performance.
The collaboration will leverage each institution's expertise, from molecular biology and glycoscience to protein engineering, machine learning, and mass spectrometry. The team will use cutting-edge technologies, including high-throughput screening and protein production, advanced glycomic tools, and computational modelling of the cell, to develop their method-controlled glycosylation in mammalian cell cultures.
The project continues a long-standing collaboration between Professor Webb and Professor Bruce Turnbull, School of Chemistry at Leeds and the Astbury Centre for Structural Molecular Biology, and Professor Dani Ungar at the University of York.