Members
Ilse Hofmann
Name of the laboratory

- Antibody Core Facility
- German Cancer Research Center
- Im Neuenheimer Feld 280
- 69120 Heidelberg, Germany
- +46 (0)6221 42 3351
Members of the laboratory
- Unit Leader
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Ilse Hofmann i.hofmann@dkfz.de
- Technicians
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Natalie Erbe-Hofmann n.erbe@dkfz.de
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Tanja Schlechter t.schlechter@dkfz.de
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Claudia Tessmer c.tessmer@dkfz.de
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Mathias Utz m.utz.@dkfz.de
Laboratory activity
Availability of tools for protein analysis has long been a major bottleneck in basic and translational science. In particular, highly specific (monoclonal) antibodies are the basis in many cell biology studies as well as in clinical diagnostics. To meet this continuous need, the Antibody Core Facility at DKFZ develops and produces high quality mouse and rat monoclonal antibodies targeting various kinds of antigens. More than 400 antibodies against 300 antigens have either been generated in the unit, or have been transferred to and are administered by the unit. Antibodies generated by the unit have been a prerequisite in a number of scientific discoveries and several are now used in routine diagnostics worldwide. Further, the unit supports licensing of proprietary monoclonal antibodies to companies.
The Antibody Core Facility uses state-of-the-art hybridoma technologies for production of monoclonal antibodies via the somatic fusion of lymphocytes from immunized mice or rats. We advise in the selection of antigens, immunize animals and perform screening of mother clones by e.g. ELISA, immunofluorescence or IHC. Clones having been tested successfully will be subcloned, expanded and maintained to guarantee long-time availability of materials. In addition, we provide non-GMP production and purification of antibodies. Lastly, we offer antibody sequencing, engineering and recombinant expression. These next generation engineered antibodies open new avenues of approach in biomedical research, diagnostics and as therapeutics.
Techniques available
- Monoclonal antibody production (mice/rat)
- Polyclonal antibody production (guinea pig)
- Recombinant antibody production in HEK cells
- Sequencing of hybridomas
- Cloning techniques
- Protein expression
- Genetic immunization
- Screening Techniques (ELISA, immunofluorescence, IHC, Western blot)
- Antibody purification
Publications (2018-present)
- Weisshaar N, Wu J, Ming Y, Madi A, Hotz-Wagenblatt A, Ma S, Mieg A, Hering M, Zettl F, Mohr K, Schlimbach T, Ten Bosch N, Hertel F, Müller L, Byren H, Wang M, Borgers H, Munz M, Schmitt L, van der Hoeven F, Kloz U, Carretero R, Schleußner N, Jackstadt R-F, Hofmann I, Cui G (2022). Rgs16 Promotes Anti-tumor CD8+ T Cell Exhaustion. Science Immunology, 7, eabh1873.
- Tessmer C, Plotzky C, Fees J, Welsh H, Eudenbach R, Faber M, Simon A, Angelova A, Rommelaere J, Hofmann I, Nüesch JPF (2022). Generation and validation of monoclonal antibodies suitable for detecting and monitoring parvovirus infections. Pathogens 11, 208.
- Bund T, Nikitina E, Chakraborty D, Ernst C, Gunst K, Boneva B, Tessmer C, Volk N, Brobeil A, Weber A, Heikenwalder M, Zur Hausen H, de Villiers E M (2021). Analysis of chronic inflammatory lesions of the colon for BMMF Rep antigen expression and CD68 macrophage interactions. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 118: No. 12 e2025830118.
- Varghese CS, Will R, Tessmer, C, Hofmann I, Hessling B, Pawlita M, Höfler D (2021). Biological activity characterization of the diagnostically relevant human papillomavirus 16 E1C RNA. Microbiology Research 12, 539-552.
- Weissinger SE, Zahn M, Marienfeld R, Tessmer C, Moldenhauer G, Moller P (2021). A new reliable and highly specific monoclonal antibody to detect the C-terminal region of silencer of cytokine signaling 1. Eur J Haematol, 107:74-80.
- Li X, Schmohl F, Qi H, Bennewitz K, Tabler CT, Poschet G, Hell R, Volk N, Poth T, Hausser I, Morgenstern J, Fleming T, Nawroth PP, Kroll J (2020). Regulation of Gluconeogenesis by Aldo-keto-reductase 1a1b in Zebrafish. Iscience, 23:101763.
- Christians A, Poisel E, Hartmann C, von Deimling A, Pusch S (2019). Characterization of the epithelial membrane protein 3 interaction network reveals a potential functional link to mitogenic signal transduction regulation. Int J Cancer, 145:461-473.
- Kutscher L, Batora N, Okonechnikov K, Clark J, Vouri M, van Rijn S, Gearhart M, Orr B, Korshunov A, Kool M, Bardwell V, Pfister SM, Northcott PA, Kawauchi D (2019). Loss of the Transcriptional Co-Repressor Bcor Leads to Overexpression of the Growth Factor Igf2 and Shh Medulloblastoma Tumor Formation. Neuro Oncol, 21:107-107.
- Barenz F, Kschonsak YT, Meyer A, Jafarpour A, Lorenz H, Hoffmann I (2018). Ccdc61 controls centrosomal localization of Cep170 and is required for spindle assembly and symmetry. Mol Biol Cell, :mbcE18020115.
- Eilebrecht S, Hotz-Wagenblatt A, Sarachaga V, Burk A, Falida K, Chakraborty D, Nikitina E, Tessmer C, Whitley C, Sauerland C, Gunst K, Grewe I, Bund T. Expression and replication of virus-like circular DNA in human cells. Sci Rep. 2018; 8:2851.
- Martins LR, Bung RK, Koch S, Richter K, Schwarzmüller L, Terhardt D, Kurtulmus B, Niehrs C, Rouhi A, Lohmann I, Pereira G, Fröhling S, Glimm H, Scholl C. Stk33 is required for spermatid differentiation and male fertility in mice. Dev Biol. 2018; 433(1):84-93.