Transferring Proteomics Technologies from the Laboratory to the Clinic - Molecular Diagnostics in Immunology and Cancer Research

Molecular diagnostics has developed into a key approach in the clinical practice and in biomedical research. In the last two decades, 'OMICS' technologies including genomics but also proteomics and metabolomics have been added to the toolbox of clinical molecular diagnostics. Above all, these systems biology approaches have the benefit of enabling the simultaneous and quantitative detection of a multitude of biomarkers for the development of personalized treatment strategies.

The Institute Krems Bioanalytics is the contract research organization (CRO) of the IMC Krems University of Applied Sciences that has a proven expertise in assay development and long-standing cooperations with national and international biopharmaceutical companies in preclinical and clinical studies. The strategic development of a cutting-edge mass spectrometry platform has been initiated by the funding of the endowment professorship 'Clinical Proteomics' for Franz Herzog by the State of Lower Austria and the acquisition of an Orbitrap Eclipse Tribrid system by the IMC Krems establishing an excellent environment for mass spectrometry research.

Our proteomics platform will allow a detailed characterization of immune responses at the molecular level and thereby provide the basis for the targeted development of efficient and safe vaccines and therapies. For instance, this platform will determine protein cleavage products of a pathogen, a tumor cell or a biotherapeutic that trigger an immune response. This will not only enable the identification of essential antigens for the development of immunotherapies, but also significantly improve the classification of cancers by identifying the corresponding biomarker signatures. In addition, a mass spectrometric approach for biomarker identification, also known as plasma proteomics, has been established through in-depth proteomic analysis of blood samples, as blood plasma represents a rich reservoir of biomarkers through secretion from tissues.

A focus of our research effort is on the development of mass spectrometric technologies for the de novo sequencing of antibodies and on the characterization of epitopes and affinities of the antigen-antibody interaction. In contrast to established standard methods for recombinant antibodies in the pharmaceutical industry, these mass spectrometric approaches should enable the analysis of endogenous antibodies from blood samples. Characterizing the patient-specific antibody spectrum will provide the molecular basis for the development of efficient tailored therapies.