GS4 Student Scholars Symposium

Nanobodies (Nb) are small proteins derived from the variable region of heavy chain only antibodies of camelids. Nbs can be used as therapeutics and in diagnostics as they can be engineered for high target affinity and their size means they can penetrate tissues more effectively. They can also be produced in E. coli and are therefore cheaper and easier to produce than monoclonal antibodies. Recently, a nanobody degrader was developed that utilizes a miniprotein to deliver a nanobody attached to an E3 adaptor to recruit ubiquitin ligase. The Nb recognizes a target and directs it for degradation. NB91 is a high-affinity PRL3 nanobody previously developed. We are using it to construct a cell permeable degrader that can be used against PRL3 as an alternative to small molecule inhibitors. PRL3 is an established target for various cancers and a PRL3 degrader can be developed for clinical applications.