Analysis of antibody self-interaction by bio-layer interferometry as tool to support lead candidate selection during preformulation and developability assessments.

Developability assessment of therapeutic mAb candidates before entering CMC development mitigates the risk of later failure because of manufacturing and stability issues. For mAbs derived from library based screenings, such evaluation starts with the first panning and ends with the selection of a lead candidate. This candidate should show, amongst others, high affine target binding and beneficial conformational as well as chemical stability.

Age-dependent levels of 5-methyl-, 5-hydroxymethyl-, and 5-formylcytosine in human and mouse brain tissues.

The absolute levels of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (hmC) and 5-methylcytosine (mC) in human brain tissues at various ages were determined. Additionally, absolute levels of 5-formylcytosine (fC) in adult individuals and cytosine modification levels in sorted neurons were quantified. These data were compared with age-related fC, hmC, and mC levels in mouse brain samples.

A rapid screening system evaluates novel inhibitors of DNA methylation and suggests F-box proteins as potential therapeutic targets for high-risk neuroblastoma.

After extensive research on radiochemotherapy, 5-year survival rates of children with high risk neuroblastoma still do not exceed 50%, owing to adverse side-effects exemplified by doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy. A promising new approach is the combination of conventional therapies with specific modulation of cell signaling pathways promoting therapeutic resistance, such as inhibition of aberrant kinase activity or re-expression of silenced tumor suppressor genes by means of chromatin remodeling. In this regard, we established a system that allows to identify potential drug targets as well as to validate respective candidate inhibitors in high-risk neuroblastoma model cell lines.

Tet oxidizes thymine to 5-hydroxymethyluracil in mouse embryonic stem cell DNA.

Ten eleven translocation (Tet) enzymes oxidize the epigenetically important DNA base 5-methylcytosine (mC) stepwise to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (hmC), 5-formylcytosine and 5-carboxycytosine. It is currently unknown whether Tet-induced oxidation is limited to cytosine-derived nucleobases or whether other nucleobases are oxidized as well. We synthesized isotopologs of all major oxidized pyrimidine and purine bases and performed quantitative MS to show that Tet-induced oxidation is not limited to mC but that thymine is also a substrate that gives 5-hydroxymethyluracil (hmU) in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs).

Targeted mutagenesis results in an activation of DNA methyltransferase 1 and confirms an autoinhibitory role of its RFTS domain.

The N-terminal regulatory part of DNA methyltransferase 1 (Dnmt1) contains a replication foci targeting sequence (RFTS) domain, which is involved in the recruitment of Dnmt1 to replication forks. The RFTS domain has been observed in a crystal structure to bind to the catalytic domain of the enzyme and block its catalytic centre. Removal of the RFTS domain led to activation of Dnmt1, thus suggesting an autoinhibitory role of this domain.