PhD Student Karen Yrene Paco Mendivil: PhD Dissertation Defense Presentation: “Intrinsically Disordered Proteins as Therapeutics Targets: Targeting Disordered Epitopes for the Development of SARS CoV2 Vaccine Candidates”

Please join us for PhD student Karen Yrene Paco Mendivil’s PhD dissertation defense presentation on “Intrinsically Disordered Proteins as Therapeutics Targets: Targeting Disordered Epitopes for the Development of SARS CoV2 Vaccine Candidates”

Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) and IDP regions (IDPRs) fail to form stable structures but have important biological functions via interacting with various molecular partners (proteins, DNA, RNA, glycosaminoglycans). We hypothesized that IDPRs are potential targets for therapeutics development because they are reservoirs of evolutionary innovation, and they play crucial roles in adaptation to pathogens. We chose several IDPRs of the spike protein of SARS CoV-2 virus to demonstrate in vivo that these regions are antigenic. Our Chimeric Qβ virus-like particles displaying disordered segments of SARS CoV-2 spike protein induced robust antibody responses in BALB/c mice. In summary, we demonstrate evidence that IDPRs can be efficient epitopes for the development of efficacious vaccines.

Date: December 1, 2021

Time: 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.

Location: 121 Bldg. – Classroom 1111 (Zoom link will be on Outlook invite)