Summary
Selecting repertoire antibodies for structural mimicry of a cognate ligand can improve epitope-targeted discovery (1). In one IL-18RA campaign, ranking 20,000 repertoire sequences by ligand-contact mimicry yielded 11 binders among 31 tested candidates, compared with 0 of 11 candidates selected without mimicry residues. Eight mimicry-selected antibodies reached sub-nanomolar affinity without experimental affinity maturation.
See also
- Antibodies often target cognate ligand epitopes without reproducing ligand contacts
- De novo antibody design
1.
Abanades B, Lopez-Morales J, Tanasijevic I, Wagner C, Speck J, Fenn S, et al. Mimic antibodies: leveraging ligand mimicry for epitope-targeted antibody discovery. mAbs. 2026;18(1):2719289. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/19420862.2026.2719289