I-Corps: Enhanced major histocompatibility complexes to improve the detection of immune cells

Award ID: 1936449

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to improve established efforts that guide the design and test the effectiveness of immunotherapies for patients suffering conditions like infection or cancer. From a commercial standpoint, the technology provides the benefits of longer shelf-lives, cleaner and more accurate results, enhanced customization options, and improved delivery times to the customer. These value propositions work to significantly improve and expand existing methods (such as flow cytometry and microscopy) that utilize the technology to determine immune responses in pre-clinical/clinical specimens. The primary customer segment for this technology would include life science researchers in industry developing cutting-edge vaccines or gene-engineering T cells. Altogether, the advances this technology provides will directly impact patients and society by more effectively facilitating the creation and adoption of clinically appropriate therapies. This I-Corps project further develops a rapid method to produce superior recombinant Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) molecules to survey the immune system in a host. This information is ultimately important in understanding fundamental aspects of the immune response during normal and abnormal settings. The new developed approach quickly generates mammalian-derived MHC molecules that are more stable and functionally superior to conventionally produced MHC molecules. The technology also allows the synthesis of a diverse range of MHC molecules that are not possible with the standard production process. Overall, the technology will transform the field of immunology by providing an ability to more accurately study established and previously untargetable immune cells, which will expand knowledge and open new areas for research discovery and innovation. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

NSF Program Director: Ruth Shuman