Phage display-based generation of novel internalizing antibody fragments for immunotoxin-based treatment of acute myeloid leukemia.

The current standard treatment for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is chemotherapy based on cytarabine and daunorubicine (7 + 3), but it discriminates poorly between malignant and benign cells. Dose-limiting off‑target effects and intrinsic drug resistance result in the inefficient eradication of leukemic blast cells and their survival beyond remission. This minimal residual disease is the major cause of relapse and is responsible for a 5-year survival rate of only 24%.

SNAP-tag based agents for preclinical in vitro imaging in malignant diseases.

Although current cancer treatment strategies are highly aggressive, they are often not effective enough to destroy the collectivity of malignant cells. The residual tumor cells that survived the first-line treatment may continue to proliferate or even metastasize. Therefore, the development of novel more effective strategies to specifically eliminate also single cancer cells is urgently needed.

SNAP-tag technology: a general introduction.

Over the past few years, the SNAP-tag technology has become a methodology with great potential in a variety of applications, e.g. the (specific) visualization of individual proteins and studies of protein interaction in living cells.