Professor Stefan Barth MSc (Bonn) PhD (Bonn) DMSc (Experimental Medicine, Cologne)
Medical Biotechnology & Immunotherapy Group
South African Research Chair in Cancer Biotechnology, Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences, Division of Chemical & Systems Biology, Member, Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, Head, Medical Biotechnology and Immunotherapy Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, UCT.
The major aim of our research is the use of medical biotechnology including antibody technologies, protein engineering & expression, to develop and evaluate knowledge-based innovative recombinant immunodiagnostics and therapeutics. The main characteristics of these novel agents are: a) disease-specific activities, b) reduced unspecific side effects, and c) reduced immunogenicity.
Novel methods for selection of antibodies are developed in close collaboration with a) Dr. Mehmet K. Tur, Experimental Pathology and Immunotherapy, Institute for Pathology, University Hospital Giessen and Marburg, Germany, b) Sachdev Sidhu, Donelly Centre for Cellular + Biomolecular Research, University of Toronto.
Novel fusion proteins will be designed using advanced supercomputing tools to model dynamic interactions of proteins, in close collaboration with Prof. Dr. Paolo Carloni, Institute for Advanced Simulation, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany. Recombinant fusion proteins are mainly expressed in bacterial or mammalian cells and subsequently characterized in experimental settings, both in vitro on cell lines or primary material of patients and in vivo in transgenic/tumor-bearing mouse models.
Selected recent publications:
Dhandapani R., Arokiaraj C.M., Taberner F., Raja S., Portulano C., Franciosa F., Maffei M., Hussain A.F., de Castro Reis F., Reymond L., Perlas E., Barth S., Johnsson K., Lechner S.G., Heppenstall P.A. Control of mechanical pain hypersensitivity in mice through ligand-targeted photoablation of TrkB positive sensory neurons. Nature Commun 9(1): 1640 (2018), doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04049-3.
Gresch G., Schenke L., Mlandenov R., Zwirner S., Cremer C., Niesen J., Grieger E., Brümmendorf T., Jost E., Fischer R., Stockmeyer B., Barth S., Nachreiner T., Stein C. Elimination of different leuaemia subtypes using novel CD89-specific human cytolyic fusion proteins. Brit J Haematol 183(2): 313-317 (2017), doi: 10.1111/bjh.14971.
Amoury M., Bauerschlag D., Zeppernick F., von Felbert V., Berges N., Di Fiore S., Mintert I., Bleilevens A., Maass N., Bräutigam K., Meinhold-Heerlein I., Stickeler E., Barth S.*, Fischer R.*, Hussain A.F.* Photoimmunotheranostic agents for triple-negative breast cancer diagnosis and therapy that can be activated on demand. Oncotarget 7(34): 54925-54936 (2016), PMID: 27448975, doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.10705.
Amoury M., Mladenov R., Nachreiner T., Pham A.T., Hristodorov D., Di Fiore S., Helfrich W., Pardo A., Fey G., Thepen T., Kiessling F., Kolberg K., Barth S. A novel approach for targeted elimination of CSPG4-positive triple negative breast cancer using a MAP-tau based fusion protein. Int J Cancer 139(4): 916-24 (2016). PMID: 27037627, doi: 10.1002/ijc.30119.
Woitok M., Klose D., Niesen J., Richter W., Abbas M., Hussain A., Stein C., Bialon M., Püttmann C., Fischer R., Barth S.*, Kolberg K.* The efficient elimination of solid tumor cells by EGFR- and Her2-specific scFv-SNAP fusion proteins conjugated to benzylguanine-modified auristatin F. Cancer Letters 381(2): 323-30 (2016). PMID: 27502168, doi: 10.1016/j.canlet.2016.08.003.
Brehm H., Hristodorov D., Pardo A., Mladenov R., Niesen J., Fischer R., Tur M.K., Barth S. Targeted killing of rhabdomyosarcoma by a MAP-based human cytolytic fusion proteins. Cancer Lett 365(2): 149-55 (2015), PMID: 25888452, doi: 10.1016/j.canlet.2015.04.004.
Contact details:
Department of Integrative Biomedical Sciences
Wernher & Beit North level 3
Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine
Faculty of Health Sciences, UCT
Anzio Road
Observatory 7925
South Africa
Tel: +27 21 406 6938 (office)
Email: stefan.barth@uct.ac.za
Alternate sites: www.chemsysbio.uct.ac.za
Group members:
| Group members | Position |
|---|---|
| Nyameka Mhlonyelwa-Mona | Snr Secretary/Administration |
| Ambrose Okem | Postdoctoral Fellow |
| Dharanidharan Ramamurthy | Postdoctoral Fellow |
| Gerda Venter | Postdoctoral Fellow |
| Eden Rebecca Padayachee | Postdoctoral Fellow |
| Krupa Naran | Postdoctoral Fellow |
| Shivan Chetty | Postdoctoral Fellow |
| Adebukola Kemi Daramola | PhD Student |
| Anathi Nkayi | PhD Student |
| Fleury Augustin Nsole Biteghe | PhD Student |
| Natasha Hardcastle | PhD Student |
| Olusiji Alex Akinrinmade | PhD Student |
| Precious Hlongwane | PhD Student |
| Sandra Jordaan | PhD Student |
| Suresh Madheswaran | PhD Student |
| Trishana Nundalall | PhD Student |
| Neelakshi Mungra | MSc Student |
| Sanele Cingo | MSc Student |
| Siyabulela Magugu | MSc Student |
| Phila Madlala | MSc Student |
| Zaria Malindi | MSc Student |
| Nakkita Pillay | Honours |
| Sizalobuhle Masuku | Honours |
| Joshua Swadling | Intern |
Collaborations:
| Name, Institution | Research Area |
|---|---|
| International | |
| Prof. Paolo Carloni, FZ Jülich, Germany | Simulation of dynamic protein interactions |
| Prof. Wijnand Helfrich, UMCG Groningen, Netherlands | SNAP tag based antibody fusion proteins for radioimaging |
| Prof. Matthias Peipp, University of Kiel, Germany | Therapeutically active fusion proteins |
| Dr. Sachdev Sidhu, University of Toronto, Canada | Novel recombinant antibodies |
| Dr. Mehmet K. Tur, UKGM Giessen, Germany | Selection of antibodies on human cells/tissue |
| Prof. Dirk Bauerschlag, University of Kiel, Germany | Therapeutically active fusion proteins |
| South Africa | |
| Prof. Frank Brombacher ICGEB, UCT, Cape Town | Biological activity of immunotherapeutic agents in preclinical disease models |
| Prof. Bert Klumperman SUN, Cape Town | Targeted drug delivery systems |
| Prof. Musa Mhlanga IDM, UCT, Cape Town & CSIR, Pretoria | Precision Medicine |
| Prof. Kevin Naidoo UCT, Cape Town | SNAP tag based antibody fusion protein constructs |
