Investigation of VISTA as a cancer immune checkpoint via structural analysis and therapeutic antibody development

Placeholder Show Content

Abstract/Contents

Abstract
Immunotherapy has shifted the landscape of cancer treatment with the advent of checkpoint inhibitors, which have become the standard of care for multiple types of cancer. Despite the remarkable success of anti-PD1 and anti-CTLA-4, patient response rates to checkpoint blockade are often only 20-30%, necessitating the need for new therapeutic targets. V-domain Ig Suppressor of T cell activation (VISTA) is an orthogonal checkpoint molecule that dampens the interaction between antigen-presenting cells and T cells to prevent effective anti-tumor responses. In this thesis, I present multiple projects related to the characterization of VISTA as a therapeutic target. First, I report the high-resolution crystal structure of the VISTA extracellular-domain and elucidate an important functional epitope of a clinical VISTA antibody (Chapter 2). I used a genetic and enzymatic de-glycoyslation approach to facilitate crystallization and utilized a display-based sorting strategy to isolate hotspot contact residues. Second, I detail the engineering and characterization of a unique, high affinity, species cross-reactive antibody against VISTA (Chapter 4). Using a combination of immune cell assays, epitope mapping strategies, and syngeneic mouse models, I demonstrate the efficacy of this antibody as a VISTA inhibitor. These efforts highlight a promising candidate for therapeutic development and provide a blueprint for future drug discovery campaigns against this promising new checkpoint target

Description

Type of resource text
Form electronic resource; remote; computer; online resource
Extent 1 online resource
Place California
Place [Stanford, California]
Publisher [Stanford University]
Copyright date 2020; ©2020
Publication date 2020; 2020
Issuance monographic
Language English

Creators/Contributors

Author Mehta, Nishant Khinduka
Degree supervisor Cochran, Jennifer R
Thesis advisor Cochran, Jennifer R
Thesis advisor Huang, Possu
Thesis advisor Levy, Ronald, 1941 December 6-
Thesis advisor Sage, Julien
Degree committee member Huang, Possu
Degree committee member Levy, Ronald, 1941 December 6-
Degree committee member Sage, Julien
Associated with Stanford University, Department of Bioengineering.

Subjects

Genre Theses
Genre Text

Bibliographic information

Statement of responsibility Nishant K. Mehta
Note Submitted to the Department of Bioengineering
Thesis Thesis Ph.D. Stanford University 2020
Location electronic resource

Access conditions

Copyright
© 2020 by Nishant Khinduka Mehta
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).

Also listed in

Loading usage metrics...