Targeting tumors using miniature antibodies is a novel and attractive therapeutic approach, as these biomolecules exhibit low immunogenicity, rapid clearance, and high targeting specificity. However, most of the small-sized antibodies in existence do not exhibit marked anti-tumor effects, which limit their use in targeted cancer immunotherapy. To overcome this difficulty in targeting multiple b...

Mechanosensitive channels (MS) are integral membrane proteins and allow bacteria to survive sudden changes in external osmolarity due to transient opening of their pores. The efflux of cytoplasmic osmolytes reduces the membrane tension and prevents membrane rupture. Therefore these channels serve as emergency valves when experiencing significant environmental stress. The preparation of high qua...

Cytotoxic T‑lymphocyte antigen‑4 (CTLA‑4) is a critical negative regulator of immune responses. CTLA‑4 is rapidly upregulated following T‑cell activation, and then binds to B7 molecules with a higher affinity than CD28. CTLA‑4 may abolish the initiation of the responses of T cells by raising the threshold of signals required for full activation of T cells, and it also may terminate ongoing T-ce...

Targeted protein degradation is a powerful tool in determining the function of specific proteins or protein complexes. We fused nanobodies to SPOP, an adaptor protein of the Cullin-RING E3 ubiquitin ligase complex, resulting in rapid ubiquitination and subsequent proteasome-dependent degradation of specific nuclear proteins in mammalian cells and zebrafish embryos. This approach is easily modif...