Over the past decades, antibody-based technologies have transformed biomedical research, diagnostics, and therapy. Among these advances, nanobodies, single-domain antibodies derived from camelid heavy-chain-only antibodies, have emerged as highly versatile tools with wide-ranging biomedical potential. Their small size, high stability, strong affinity, ease of engineering, and ability to access challenging epitopes make them particularly attractive for applications across both basic research and clinical medicine.
This Research Topic aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the expanding role of nanobodies in biomedical research and clinical applications. It welcomes contributions that explore nanobody development, engineering, and use in disease detection, molecular imaging, therapeutic targeting, drug delivery, and immune modulation. In addition to their growing importance in oncology, nanobodies are increasingly being investigated in infectious diseases, inflammatory and autoimmune disorders, neurological diseases, and other areas of unmet clinical need. Their integration into next-generation platforms, including multispecific constructs, radioligands, biosensors, and cell-based immunotherapies such as CAR-T and CAR-NK systems, further highlights their broad translational value.
This Research Topic particularly encourages submissions addressing the design, optimization, and application of nanobody-based approaches in both preclinical and clinical settings. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
This Research Topic welcomes contributions on the discovery, engineering, and optimization of nanobodies for biomedical use, as well as structural and mechanistic studies of nanobody–antigen recognition and binding. It also includes research on nanobody-based diagnostics, biosensing, and molecular imaging; therapeutic nanobodies for cancer, infectious, inflammatory, autoimmune, and neurological diseases; and the incorporation of nanobodies into cell-based immunotherapies, including CAR-T and related platforms. In addition, submissions may address multispecific, conjugated, or drug-delivery nanobody formats, comparative studies of nanobodies and conventional antibodies in research or clinical settings, and preclinical, translational, and clinical studies evaluating the efficacy, safety, and manufacturability of nanobody-based technologies.
By bringing together advances from fundamental, translational, and clinical research, this Research Topic aims to highlight how nanobodies are shaping the next generation of biomedical tools and therapies, and to stimulate innovation across diverse fields of medicine.
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Article types
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
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