Klimka Lab - Antibody-based infection diagnostics
The DZIF research group - Antibacterial Vaccine and Diagnostic Development - led by Dr. Alexander Klimka specializes in the generation of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) using hybridoma technology against various microbial targets for therapeutic and diagnostic purposes. One of our anti-S. aureus antibodies is under preclinical and clinical development as a therapeutic antibody for S. aureus bloodstream infections under the leadership of Prof. Martin Krönke. In close collaboration with Dr. Paul Higgins, Prof. Jonathan Jantsch and industry partners, antibody-based rapid tests for the detection of antibiotic-resistant bacteria have been and are being developed. The implementation of these tests in clinical trials will demonstrate their potential use as simple point-of-care tests to determine colonization versus infection, screening for therapeutic success or hygiene monitoring in infection prevention and control.
Funding:
German Center of Infection Research (DZIF)
edical Faculty, University of Cologne
Klimka A, Mertins S, Nicolai AK, Rummler LM, Higgins PG, Günther SD, Tosetti B, Krut O, Krönke M. Epitope-specific immunity against Staphylococcus aureus coproporphyrinogen III oxidase. NPJ Vaccines. 6(1):11, 2021
Mertins S, Higgins PG, Thunissen C, Gilleman Q, Mertens P, Gonzalez-Rodriguez M, Maus LM, Seifert H, Krönke M, Klimka A. Development of an immunochromatographic lateral flow assay to rapidly detect OXA-23-, OXA-40-, OXA-58- and NDM-mediated carbapenem resistance determinants in Acinetobacter baumannii. J. Med. Microbiol. 72(4), 2023
