SynthImmune: Design of peptide-based immunogens for tackling malaria

The human immune system is powerful, yet it can be evaded by certain types of cancer and infection, leading to severe disease. Researchers in the SynthImmune Cluster of Excellence– Engineering Immune Function with Synthetic Biology – aim to decode the mechanisms of protective “superior” immune function and use this knowledge in a bottom-up approach to develop and assemble molecular building blocks that have complex immune functions.  For this purpose, computational and experimental scientists in SynthImmune collaborate across disciplines to develop novel synthetic immunotherapies to prevent and treat diseases, including AIDS and malaria, as well as the therapeutically challenging pancreatic, lung, and brain cancers.

HITS is a participating institution in SynthImmune, which was  selected as a Cluster of Excellence in the Excellence Strategy of the Federal and State Governments of Germany in May 2025. SynthImmune’s network spans across the Heidelberg and Mannheim campuses of Heidelberg University and local institutions: DKFZ, EMBL, MPImF,  NCT, and HITS .

The Molecular and Cellular Modeling (MCM) group  at HITS is contributing to SynthImmune with MCM Group Leader Rebecca Wade serving as a principal investigator in the cluster’s Computation research area. The aim of the project at HITS is the computer-aided design of peptide-based antigens presented on nucleic-acid origami arrays as immunogens against malaria. New computational approaches combining AI-and molecular dynamics simulation-based methods will be developed and applied to design novel antigens and investigate the determinants of immunogenicity.  Our approach will include the design of chemically modified peptides and the optimization of their kinetic parameters, particularly the residence time on cell receptors and antibodies, using computational methods developed at HITS.

Contributors:

Rebecca Wade (MCM)

Member:

Darius Szablowski