Vytautas Rudokas has defended his thesis entitled "Development, Characterization and Application of New Monoclonal Antibodies Against Indoor Allergens for Diagnostic Purposes" for the degree of Doctor of Science in Chemical Engineering.
Scientific supervisor: Prof. Dr. Aurelija Žvirblienė (Vilnius University, Technological Sciences, Chemical Engineering).
Composition of the Dissertation Defense Board: Chairperson - Prof. Dr. Elena Servienė (The State Scientific Research Institute Nature Research Centre, Technological Sciences, Chemical Engineering);
Prof. Habil. Dr. Rūta Dubakienė (Vilnius University, Medical and Health Sciences, Medicine), Dr. Algirdas Grevys (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Technological Sciences, Chemical Engineering), Dr. Eglė Jakubauskienė (Vilnius University, Natural Sciences, Biochemistry), Dr. Aušra Ražanskienė (UAB Nomands, Technological Sciences, Chemical Engineering).
Currently, advanced allergy diagnostics employ allergen components – natural and purified or recombinantly produced molecules. Molecular allergy diagnostics using allergen components enables the acquisition of a precise sensitization profile of an allergic individual to specific allergens. Nevertheless, heterogeneous allergen extracts, obtained directly from the allergen source and composed of target allergens along with other biomolecules, are still frequently used in allergy diagnostics and immunotherapy.
A major issue with allergen extracts is variability in their composition and the lack of standardization. It has been shown that allergen extracts from different manufacturers or even different production batches differ in their component composition. As a result, allergy diagnostics may become inaccurate and allergen immunotherapy insufficiently effective. The standardization of allergen extracts can begin with an accurate analysis of their component composition. This requires a precise and user-friendly quantitative analysis system, which can be developed based on monoclonal antibodies against allergens.
In this work, novel mouse monoclonal antibodies against inhalant indoor allergens – dog, cat, and house dust mite allergens – were developed. To achieve this, recombinant allergens were first synthesized, and following the generation of new monoclonal antibodies against them, a quantitative allergen component analysis system for the investigation of allergen extracts was established. In addition, the developed monoclonal antibodies were applied in studies of inhibition of allergen interactions with human antibodies.