ally abel
Full Illustration
M25 Monoclonal Antibody Potentiates IL-7 Bioactivity
This illustration depicts the mechanism by which the M25 monoclonal antibody rations interleukin-7 (IL-7) to potentiate its cellular effects. IL-7 binds to the IL-7 receptor complex on T-cells. M25 rations IL-7 by blocking the binding of the common gamma chain, one of the proteins in the heterodimeric IL7 receptor complex. The 3 step IL-7 potentiation mechanism is illustrated on the foreground T-cell, highlighting this blocking. The inset in the upper left corner depicts typical IL-7 internalization in a T– cells not in the presence of M25. Smaller insets associated with each T-cell highlight the differences in IL7R-a expression between T-cell exposed to M25 and T-cells not exposed to M25.
CLIENT
Dr. Jamie Spangler, Emily Airail
ROLE
Scientific Illustrator: Responsible for visual concept development, layout design, 3D asset creation & rendering, and final illustration
AUDIENCE
Content experts
YEAR
2025
MEDIA
PyMol, ePMV Cinema 4D, Adobe Photoshop
RESEARCH & THUMBNAILS
Thumbnailing helps organize information and provide visual previews for the client. Experimenting with different layouts and environments in the thumbnails helps me develop the most effective solution.
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DRAFTS
The vessel environment, general color scheme, and layout was solidified through the development of colored drafts based on the strongest thumbnails. Experimentation with insets, environmental color
Preliminary draft with binding site insets
Draft experimenting with T-cell color
LIGHTING & MATERIALS
Molecule materials were developed to match the color scheme of the molecules in the final submitted manuscript. As the environment developed, I adjusted the lighting to create a more realistic scenario, with the molecules appearing more backlit by the light from the end of the vessel.
Antibody and IL-7 material test
Endosome with degraded IL-7 and receptor complex
BEHIND THE SCENES
Because antibodies have flexible linkers connecting their Fc and Fab domains, I used vertex mapping and controllers to adjust these regions. This helped ensure the silhouette of the molecule remained identified in different binding configurations and created a more realistic scene.
Antibody with vertex map