Post-Doctorate in molecular engineering of antibodies in the CBRN field

The Molecular Engineering Service for Health (SIMoS) is part of the "Drugs and Technologies for Health" department of the CEA. SIMoS is specialized in the development and characterization of molecules for diagnosis, imaging and therapy and in particular antibodies. The laboratory develops antibody engineering and epitope mapping methods based on the Yeast Surface Display technique.

In the event of suspected use of biological agents such as bacteria or viruses as bioterrorist weapons, it is necessary to have a therapeutic arsenal capable of blocking or at least rapidly limiting their effects. It is also essential to have sensitive tests for the detection and diagnosis of such agents. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are thus an essential element of the response to CBRN-E threats, both for immunological tests and for medical countermeasures.

The objective is to improve the functional properties of existing antibodies by molecular engineering in order to obtain new and improved molecules directed against agents of emerging diseases or terrorist threats. For each target, several antibodies will be expressed as Fab on the yeast surface (Yeast Surface Display, YSD) to allow the screening of their functional properties. Several synthetic libraries will be designed to identify mutations that improve the properties of these antibodies (kon, koff, selectivity). These will be screened at high speed in flow cytometry (FACS) and the best candidates will be sequenced (Illumina NGS). The best antibodies can then be tested in vitro (Octet or Biacore), in cell-based pathogen neutralization tests or in immunological strip test formats.