Columbia Technology Ventures

Antibody for probing the guanine biosynthesis pathway

Guanine is an essential piece of the genetic code and one of the building blocks of both ribonucleic acid (RNA) and deoxyribonucleic acid (RNA). Inosine-5'-monophosphate dehydrogenase 2 (IMPDH2) is the rate-limiting enzyme for the biosynthesis of guanine and is known to be overexpressed in cancer cells. This technology is an antibody, clone 2E4, that binds to IMPDH2. It can be used in basic research on the guanine biosynthesis pathway or to label cells that overexpress IMPDH2. It is envisioned that this antibody could be developed into a therapeutic and/or diagnostic tool for cancers characterized by upregulation of IMPDH2.

An anti-IMPDH2 antibody has potential applications in basic research and cancer treatment

While it is known that IMPDH2 is upregulated in tumor cells and important to the guanine biosynthetic pathway, its role in disease progression is not well understood. The anti-IMPDH2 antibody is a useful research tool for investigating the role of IMPDH2. It may be useful for immunophenotyping tumor cells and could be combined with a fluorescent probe to image and label cells. Additionally, it could be developed into a diagnostic tool or therapeutic for cancer.

Lead Inventor:

Nicole Suciu-Foca, Ph.D.

Applications:

  • Research into the guanine biosynthesis pathway
  • Fluorescent labeling of tumor cells in which IMPDH2 is upregulated
  • Immunophenotyping of cells with overexpressed IMPDH2
  • Antibody-drug conjugates for targeting IMPDH2

Advantages:

*Role of guanine biosynthesis in cancer and other diseases is not well understood *Specifically targets cells with overexpressed IMPDH2, including tumor cells *Can be used in combination with other antibodies

Patent Information:

Patent Pending

Tech Ventures Reference: IR CU14353

Related Publications:

*Chang C-C, Liu Z, Vlad G, Qin H, Qiao X, Mancini DM, Marboe CC, Cortesini R, and Suciu-Foca N. "Ig-Like Transcript 3 Regulates Expression of Proinflammatory Cytokines and Migration of Activated T Cells" Journal of Immunology. 2009;182(9):5208-5216.