Matthias Wabl, PhD
I hold a Ph.D. from the Max-Planck Institute in Berlin. Before joining the UCSF Faculty, I was a Member of the Basel Institute for Immunology, Basel, Switzerland, and a Principal Investigator at the Max-Planck Institute in Tübingen, Germany. I contributed to the molecular genetics of antibody synthesis, including the development of tadpoles from single B lymphocytes; the demonstration that the immunoglobulin class switch occurs within an antigen specific clone by a looping-out and deletion mechanism of DNA; and that subversion of DNA mismatch repair contributed to affinity maturation of antibodies. I also constructed one of the first bispecific antibodies, and I discovered one of the first mammalian chaperones (BiP).
After generating a human antibody transgenic mouse (the Trianni Mouse) for the discovery of fully human antibodies, I decided to use this platform to combat infectious disease—specifically tuberculosis. We generate antibodies to surface structures and secreted proteins of mycobacterium tuberculosis and test them and their derivatives (bispecifics and other modifications) for their potential use in human therapy of drug resistant tuberculosis.