Dr. Lars Toleikis
Brief Bio Lars Toleikis is Global Head of Protein Engineering & Antibody Technologies (PEAT) within Research at Merck Healthcare KGaA. Lars is Biologist by training and studied at the Universities of Kaiserslautern and Heidelberg, Germany. In 2004 he finished his PhD work in the field of recombinant antibodies at the University of Heidelberg under the supervision of Prof. Dübel. From 2004 to 2005 he worked as Postdoc at the Universities of Tübingen, Germany, and Braunschweig, Germany. From 2005 to 2007 he worked as scientist and project leader at the German Resource Center for Genome Research (RZPD) in Heidelberg. He joined Merck KGaA in 2008 as lab head within NBE Technologies. From 2012 to 2019 he was Head of Protein Engineering & Antibody Technologies Darmstadt, Germany, within NBE Technologies. Since 2019 Lars is Global Head of Protein Engineering & Antibody Technologies and responsible for therapeutic antibody discovery and protein engineering activities at the two main research sites of Merck Healthcare KGaA in Darmstadt, Germany, and Billerica (Greater Boston area), US. Selected Publications Milking the Cow: Cattle-Derived Chimeric Ultralong CDR-H3 Antibodies and Their Engineered CDR-H3-Only Knobbody Counterparts Targeting Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Elicit Potent NK Cell-Mediated Cytotoxicity. Pekar L, Klewinghaus D, Arras P, Carrara SC, Harwardt J, Krah S, Yanakieva D, Toleikis L, Smider VV, Kolmar H, Zielonka S.Front Immunol. 2021 Oct 25;12:742418. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.742418 Avelumab internalization by human circulating immune cells is mediated by both Fc gamma receptor and PD-L1 binding. Jin H, D'Urso V, Neuteboom B, McKenna SD, Schweickhardt R, Gross AW, Fomekong Nanfack Y, Paoletti A, Carter C, Toleikis L, Fluck M, Scheuenpflug J, Cai T.Oncoimmunology. 2021 Aug 29;10(1):1958590. doi: 10.1080/2162402X.2021.1958590 Affinity Maturation of B7-H6 Translates into Enhanced NK Cell-Mediated Tumor Cell Lysis and Improved Proinflammatory Cytokine Release of Bispecific Immunoligands via NKp30 Engagement. Pekar L, Klausz K, Busch M, Valldorf B, Kolmar H, Wesch D, Oberg HH, Krohn S, Boje AS, Gehlert CL, Toleikis L, Krah S, Gupta T, Rabinovich B, Zielonka S, Peipp M.J Immunol. 2021 Jan 1;206(1):225-236. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.2001004. Epub 2020 Dec 2. Biophysical and biochemical characterization of a VHH-based IgG-like bi- and trispecific antibody platform. Pekar L, Busch M, Valldorf B, Hinz SC, Toleikis L, Krah S, Zielonka S.MAbs. 2020 Jan-Dec;12(1):1812210. doi: 10.1080/19420862.2020.1812210. Intein mediated high throughput screening for bispecific antibodies. Hofmann T, Schmidt J, Ciesielski E, Becker S, Rysiok T, Schütte M, Toleikis L, Kolmar H, Doerner A.MAbs. 2020 Jan-Dec;12(1):1731938. doi: 10.1080/19420862.2020.1731938. A One-Step Process for the Construction of Phage Display scFv and VHH Libraries. Sellmann C, Pekar L, Bauer C, Ciesielski E, Krah S, Becker S, Toleikis L, Kügler J, Frenzel A, Valldorf B, Hust M, Zielonka S.Mol Biotechnol. 2020 Apr;62(4):228-239. doi: 10.1007/s12033-020-00236-0. Isolation of Antigen-Specific VHH Single-Domain Antibodies by Combining Animal Immunization with Yeast Surface Display. Roth L, Krah S, Klemm J, Günther R, Toleikis L, Busch M, Becker S, Zielonka S.Methods Mol Biol. 2020;2070:173-189. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-9853-1_10. Facile generation of antibody heavy and light chain diversities for yeast surface display by Golden Gate Cloning. Roth L, Grzeschik J, Hinz SC, Becker S, Toleikis L, Busch M, Kolmar H, Krah S, Zielonka S.Biol Chem. 2019 Feb 25;400(3):383-393. doi: 10.1515/hsz-2018-0347. A Streamlined Approach for the Construction of Large Yeast Surface Display Fab Antibody Libraries. Krah S, Grzeschik J, Rosowski S, Gaa R, Willenbuecher I, Demir D, Toleikis L, Kolmar H, Becker S, Zielonka S.Methods Mol Biol. 2018;1827:145-161. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-8648-4_8. Selection of Antibodies with Tailored Properties by Application of High-Throughput Multiparameter Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorting of Yeast-Displayed Immune Libraries. Schröter C, Beck J, Krah S, Zielonka S, Doerner A, Rhiel L, Günther R, Toleikis L, Kolmar H, Hock B, Becker S.Mol Biotechnol. 2018 Oct;60(10):727-735 A novel one-step approach for the construction of yeast surface display Fab antibody libraries. Rosowski S, Becker S, Toleikis L, Valldorf B, Grzeschik J, Demir D, Willenbücher I, Gaa R, Kolmar H, Zielonka S, Krah S.Microb Cell Fact. 2018 Jan 9;17(1):3. doi: 10.1186/s12934-017-0853-z. Novel CH1:CL interfaces that enhance correct light chain pairing in heterodimeric bispecific antibodies. Bönisch M, Sellmann C, Maresch D, Halbig C, Becker S, Toleikis L, Hock B, Rüker F.Protein Eng Des Sel. 2017 Sep 1;30(9):685-696. doi: 10.1093/protein/gzx044. Engineering bispecific antibodies with defined chain pairing. Krah S, Sellmann C, Rhiel L, Schröter C, Dickgiesser S, Beck J, Zielonka S, Toleikis L, Hock B, Kolmar H, Becker S.N Biotechnol. 2017 Oct 25;39(Pt B):167-173. doi: 10.1016/j.nbt.2016.12.010. Epub 2017 Jan 27. Generation of human bispecific common light chain antibodies by combining animal immunization and yeast display. Krah S, Schröter C, Eller C, Rhiel L, Rasche N, Beck J, Sellmann C, Günther R, Toleikis L, Hock B, Kolmar H, Becker S.Protein Eng Des Sel. 2017 Apr 1;30(4):291-301. doi: 10.1093/protein/gzw077. Spontaneous Isopeptide Bond Formation as a Powerful Tool for Engineering Site-Specific Antibody-Drug Conjugates. Siegmund V, Piater B, Zakeri B, Eichhorn T, Fischer F, Deutsch C, Becker S, Toleikis L, Hock B, Betz UA, Kolmar H.Sci Rep. 2016 Dec 16;6:39291. doi: 10.1038/srep39291. Balancing Selectivity and Efficacy of Bispecific Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) × c-MET Antibodies and Antibody-Drug Conjugates. Sellmann C, Doerner A, Knuehl C, Rasche N, Sood V, Krah S, Rhiel L, Messemer A, Wesolowski J, Schuette M, Becker S, Toleikis L, Kolmar H, Hock B.J Biol Chem. 2016 Nov 25;291(48):25106-25119. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M116.753491. Epub 2016 Sep 30. Generation and analysis of the improved human HAL9/10 antibody phage display libraries. Kügler J, Wilke S, Meier D, Tomszak F, Frenzel A, Schirrmann T, Dübel S, Garritsen H, Hock B, Toleikis L, Schütte M, Hust M.BMC Biotechnol. 2015 Feb 19;15:10. doi: 10.1186/s12896-015-0125-0. A generic approach to engineer antibody pH-switches using combinatorial histidine scanning libraries and yeast display. Schröter C, Günther R, Rhiel L, Becker S, Toleikis L, Doerner A, Becker J, Schönemann A, Nasu D, Neuteboom B, Kolmar H, Hock B.MAbs. 2015;7(1):138-51. doi: 10.4161/19420862.2014.985993. Cloning single-chain antibody fragments (ScFv) from hyrbidoma cells. Toleikis L, Frenzel A.Methods Mol Biol. 2012;907:59-71. doi: 10.1007/978-1-61779-974-7_3. Bi-specific aptamers mediating tumor cell lysis. Boltz A, Piater B, Toleikis L, Guenther R, Kolmar H, Hock B.J Biol Chem. 2011 Jun 17;286(24):21896-905. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M111.238261. Epub 2011 Apr 29. Rise and fall of an anti-MUC1 specific antibody. Thie H, Toleikis L, Li J, von Wasielewski R, Bastert G, Schirrmann T, Esteves IT, Behrens CK, Fournes B, Fournier N, de Romeuf C, Hust M, Dübel S.PLoS One. 2011 Jan 14;6(1):e15921. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0015921. Therapeutic antibodies and antibody fusion proteins. Rohrbach P, Broders O, Toleikis L, Dübel S.Biotechnol Genet Eng Rev. 2003;20:137-63. doi: 10.1080/02648725.2003.10648041. Cloning single-chain antibody fragments (scFv) from hybridoma cells. Toleikis L, Broders O, Dübel S.Methods Mol Med. 2004;94:447-58. doi: 10.1385/1-59259-679-7:447. |
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 956314.
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