Research Focus

• Chemical profile analysis and database development of bioactive components using natural products
• Studies on new drug discovery and development of nanobiomaterial-based diagnostic/therapeutic agents
• Biological disease imaging and therapy studies with small animal models (i.e., cancer, depression, atherosclerosis, stroke and osteoporosis)
• High-quality imaging studies with advanced bioimaging equipment, professional technical support, and research collaboration

Representative Research Cases

Dissecting the impact of target-binding kinetics of protein binders on tumor localization

• We investigated the influence of the binding affinity of proteins on tumor localization by using four repebodies that having different affinities to EGFR. Biochemical analysis and molecular imaging provided direct evidence that optimal affinity with balanced target binding and dissociation facilitated deep penetration and accumulation of protein binders in tumors by overcoming the binding-site-barrier effect. Our findings suggest that binding kinetics-based protein design can be implicated in the development of fine-tuned protein therapeutics for cancers.

In vivo analysis of tumor targeting and localization of Cy5.5-conjugated repebodies