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Molecular modelling on GHz-THz sensing of camel single domain antibodies binding to lysozyme Host Publication: National Conference of the Romanian Society of Biophysics Authors: M. Alexandra Mernea, I. Vasile, O. Calborean, J. Stiens and D. Mihailescu Edition: 2015 Publication Date: Jun. 2015
Abstract: Camel single domain antibodies are antibody fragments with a low molecular weight (~15 kDa) that are fully capable to bind their targets. Due to their high stability, these small antibodies are of great interest for biosensing applications, biotechnological use and more importantly for therapeutic use, in fighting oncological, neurodegenerative, infectious and inflammatory diseases. Here we addressed the issue of sensing the binding of camel single domain antibodies to a target protein, namely hen egg white lysozyme. Spectroscopic experiments performed in the Gigahetz (GHz) – Terahertz (THz) frequency domains showed a significant signal change upon the formation of antibody – lysozyme complexes. Molecular modelling was used in order to understand the experimental results at the molecular level. The spectra of the proteins and their hydration shells were simulated based on the molecular dynamics trajectories [1] of dilute model solutions comprising: i) the antibody – lysozyme complex [2], ii) lysozyme and iii) the antibody molecule. Theoretical results on the solutions components were used to estimate the absorptions of solutions with the lysozyme – antibody ratios used in experiments.
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