{"entity": "researcher", "timestamp": "2026-10-19T22:58:34.336Z", "family": "Mestre Borras", "given": "Anna", "initials": "A", "orcid": "0000-0001-5365-9122", "affiliations": ["Department of Protein Science, School of Engineering Sciences in Chemistry, Biotechnology and Health, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-106 91, Stockholm, Sweden."], "links": {"self": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/b9e4cf0aa89048478f3eeb6cdfd0d876.json"}, "display": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/b9e4cf0aa89048478f3eeb6cdfd0d876"}}, "publications": [{"entity": "publication", "iuid": "e3d6f9e5988443609340490f861d6545", "links": {"self": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/publication/e3d6f9e5988443609340490f861d6545.json"}, "display": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/publication/e3d6f9e5988443609340490f861d6545"}}, "title": "Engineering affibody domains as anti-idiotypic masks for nivolumab-based prodrugs.", "authors": [{"family": "Mestre Borras", "given": "Anna", "initials": "A", "orcid": "0000-0001-5365-9122", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/b9e4cf0aa89048478f3eeb6cdfd0d876.json"}}, {"family": "Mehari", "given": "Hanna", "initials": "H", "orcid": "0009-0002-3941-1600", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/3d40dc7301b240d3b58e69fe20616733.json"}}, {"family": "St\u00e5hl", "given": "Stefan", "initials": "S"}, {"family": "L\u00f6fblom", "given": "John", "initials": "J", "orcid": "0000-0001-9423-0541", "researcher": {"href": "https://publications.scilifelab.se/researcher/619dac079e47478d859f562aea39e49b.json"}}], "type": "journal article", "published": "2026-01-09", "journal": {"title": "Protein Eng. Des. Sel.", "issn": "1741-0134", "volume": "39", "issn-l": "1741-0126"}, "abstract": "Antibody prodrugs provide a strategy to reduce systemic toxicity by masking therapeutic antibodies until activation in specific physiological environments. Nivolumab, an anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibitor used in cancer immunotherapy, can cause immune-related adverse events. As a first step toward a prodrug version of nivolumab, we screened an Escherichia coli affibody library using MACS and FACS, identifying affibodies that effectively mask its PD-1-binding regions. Deep sequencing revealed an unexpected enrichment of proline-rich variants, possibly mimicking a PD-1 loop. AlphaFold modeling suggested that these affibodies form interactions with nivolumab despite low alpha-helical content. Biosensor assays confirmed effective masking in a nivolumab prodrug format, with PD-1 binding restored upon proteolytic cleavage. These findings support further exploration of PD-1-mimicking affibodies as masking domains, advancing the development of more selective nivolumab prodrugs with improved safety profiles.", "doi": "10.1093/protein/gzag010", "pmid": "41989091", "labels": {"NGI Stockholm (Genomics Production)": "Service", "National Genomics Infrastructure": "Service", "NGI Short read": "Service"}, "xrefs": [{"db": "pmc", "key": "PMC13122598"}, {"db": "pii", "key": "8655119"}], "notes": [], "created": "2026-10-14T13:09:23.616Z", "modified": "2026-10-14T13:09:23.730Z"}]}