An improved procedure for the generation of recombinant single-chain Fv antibody fragments reacting with human CD13 on intact cells

A procedure was developed to generate recombinant single chain Fv (scFv) antibody fragments reacting with the extracellular domain of human cell surface antigen CD13 (hCD13; aminopeptidase N) on intact cells. Membrane fractions prepared from a stably transfected hCD13-positive murine NIH/3T3 cell line were used to immunize BALB/c mice, with the intention that hCD13 would be the major immunogenic molecule recognized by the immune system. Spleen RNA from the immunized mice served to generate a combinatorial scFv phage display library. The library was adsorbed against non-transfected NIH/3T3 or Sf21 insect cells to eliminate nonrelevant binders. The supernatant was then used for panning with either hCD13-transfected Sf21 insect cells or a hCD13-expressing human leukemia-derived cell line. Therefore, the key concepts of the procedure were the presentation of hCD13 as the sole human antigen on murine NIH/3T3 cells and a screening strategy where hCD13 was the major common antigen of the material used for immunization and panning. Two different hCD13-reactive phages were isolated and the soluble scFvs were expressed in E. coli and purified. The two scFvs, anti-hCD13-1 and anti-hCD13-3, differed at four amino acid positions in their V(H) regions and both had high affinities for hCD13 as determined by surface plasmon resonance (K(D)=7 and 33x10(-10) M, respectively). Both efficiently recognized hCD13 on intact cells. Therefore, the procedure allowed the production of high affinity scFvs reacting with a desired antigen in its native conformation without requiring extensive purification of the antigen and should be useful for the preparation of scFvs against other conformation-sensitive cell-surface antigens.     

Streptabody, a high avidity molecule made by tetramerization of in vivo biotinylated, phage display-selected scFv fragments on streptavidin

Phage display is a powerful method of isolating of antibody fragments from highly diverse naive human antibody repertoires. However, the affinity of the selected antibodies is usually low and current methods of affinity maturation are complex and time-consuming. In this paper, we describe an easy way to increase the functional affinity (avidity) of single chain variable fragments (scFvs) by tetramerization on streptavidin, following their site-specific biotinylation by the enzyme BirA. Expression vectors have been constructed that enable addition of the 15 amino acid biotin acceptor domain (BAD) on selected scFvs. Different domains were cloned at the C-terminus of scFv in the following order: a semi-rigid hinge region (of 16 residues), the BAD, and a histidine tail. Two such recombinant scFvs directed against the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) were previously selected from human non-immune and murine immune phage display libraries. The scFvs were first synthesized in Escherichia coli carrying the plasmid encoding the BirA enzyme, and then purified from the cytoplasmic extracts by Ni-NTA affinity chromatography. Purified biotinylated scFvs were tetramerized on the streptavidin molecule to create a streptabody (StAb). The avidity of various forms of anti-CEA StAbs, tested on purified CEA by competitive assays and surface plasmon resonance showed an increase of more than one log, as compared with the scFv monomer counterparts. Furthermore, the percentage of direct binding of 125I-labeled StAb or monomeric scFv on CEA-Sepharose beads and on CEA-expressing cells showed a dramatic increase for the tetramerized scFv (>80%), as compared with the monomeric scFv (<20%). Interestingly, the percentage binding of 125I-labeled anti-CEA StAbs to CEA-expressing colon carcinoma cells was definitely higher (>80%) than that obtained with a reference high affinity murine anti-CEA mAb (30%). Another advantage of using scFvs in a StAb format was demonstrated by Western blot analysis, where tetramerized anti-CEA scFv could detect a small quantity of CEA at a concentration 100-fold lower than the monomeric scFv.     

Enhancement of scFv fragment reactivity with target antigens in binding assays following mixing with anti-tag monoclonal antibodies

The phage display Ab library technology has been found to be a useful method to isolate antigen-specific Ab fragments, since the repertoire of antibody specificities is broad and since it bypasses the need of immunization. However, when screening clones isolated from a phage display Ab library, the yield of isolating antigen-specific Ab fragments is low and the rate of false negative results is high. This limitation reflects the low affinity/avidity of Ab fragments and/or the low density of the target antigen. To facilitate the isolation of Ab fragments with a broad range of affinities to antigens of interest from phage display Ab libraries, we have developed a simple method to increase the sensitivity of binding assays to detect the reactivity of single-chain fragments of antibody variable regions (scFv) with target antigens. This method involves the mixing of scFv fragments, expressing a c-myc epitope tag, with anti-tag mAb 9E10 prior to their use in binding assays in order to form stable dimeric Ab fragment-anti-tag mAb complexes. The increase in the reactivity of scFv fragments with the corresponding antigen is observed over a broad range of scFv fragment (6-800 microg/ml) and mAb 9E10 (0.5-30 microg/ml) concentrations, thereby facilitating the testing of scFv fragment preparations with unknown scFv fragment concentrations. Use of this method in binding assays resulted in a twofold increase in the reactivity of low-affinity purified scFv fragments with the corresponding antigen. Moreover, application of this method to screen clones isolated from phage display scFv libraries resulted in a reproducible increase in both the yield of antigen-specific scFv clones and the titer of scFv fragment preparations by a factor of 5 and 2- to 32-fold, respectively. Lastly, this method can be applied in both ELISA and flow cytometry and is independent of the characteristics of the antigen (i.e. whole cells, carbohydrates and purified protein) and/or of the library (synthetic scFv Library (#1), a large semi-synthetic phage display scFv library and the human synthetic VH+VL scFv library (Griffin.1 library)) used. Therefore, the method we have described represents a sensitive, simple and reproducible technique that will facilitate the isolation and use of scFv fragments.     

Humanization of agonistic anti-human 4-1BB monoclonal antibody using a phage-displayed combinatorial library

Given the key role 4-1BB plays in the stimulation of T cells, humanization of agonistic anti-human 4-1BB monoclonal antibody (mAb) may have important clinical applications. In this paper, we present the humanization of agonistic anti-human 4-1BB mAb, BBK-4, using a phage display library. We first prepared the combinatorial library by incorporating murine and human alternative at positions representing buried residues that might affect the structural integrity of the antigen binding site. Six humanized single chain Fv (scFv) fragments were selected from the combinatorial library expressing phage-displayed humanized scFv. They were found to retain the epitope specificity of the original mAb but had affinities of lower than 1/10 of the original. In spite of the lower affinity, the humanized scFv coated on the surface expanded human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in MLR similarly to the original mAb in the presence of anti-CD3 mAb. These results suggest that humanized anti-human 4-1BB scFvs can be used as a valuable reagent for clinical application.     

Screening of human anti-TNF-alpha scFv from large phage library

AIM: To clone human anti-TNF-alpha scFv from large phage antibody library. METHODS: Panning of large phage library against TNF-alpha was conducted to select specific antibodies. The antigen binding activity and DNA sequence were determined and analyzed by ELISA, restriction enzyme map. RESULTS: After 4 rounds of panning, 62 positive clones were obtained and 27 clones had specific binding ability to TNF-alpha. DNA fingerprinting of the 27 clones showed 7 different stripes indicated 7 different positive clones. 5 of the 7 clones expressed soluble anti-TNF-alpha activity. DNA sequence analysis showed that the variable regions of these scFvs belonged to different subgroups. CONCLUSION: Human TNF-alpha scFv have been successfully obtained from large phage antibody library.     

多样性人源天然噬菌体抗体库的构建及初步应用

目的:构建多样性良好的人源天然噬菌体抗体库。方法:从正常人外周血中分离淋巴细胞,以RT-PCR和半巢式PCR扩增重链可变区VH基因和轻链可变区VL基因,以重叠延伸PCR将VH、VL组装成scFv基因,并将其克隆入噬菌粒载体pCANTAB-5E中。以pCANTAB-5E电转化大肠杆菌TG1,构建人源天然噬菌体抗体库,测序分析抗体基因的家族信息和多样性,并用多种抗原对其进行筛选。结果:获得了库容为2×108的人源天然噬菌体抗体库。分别用5种抗原对其进行筛选,均可获得特异性噬菌体抗体的富集。结论:成功地构建了一个多样性良好的人源天然噬菌体抗体库,可用于制备具有应用前景的人源抗体。     

Characterization of monoclonal antibodies against carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and expression in E. coli

Eight monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) were characterized. Five clones are IgG(1), two clones are IgM and one clone is IgG(2b); all have kappa light chain. The affinities are in the range of 1.1 x 10(-7) approximately 2.4 x 10(-9) M; the affinities of two IgM clones could not be estimated because of their low enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay (ELISA) signal. Each clone was constructed as single-chain Fv (scFv) and expression was performed in E. coli. Four clones out of 8 could express scFv soluble to culture media and the expression was confirmed further by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and immunoblotting. The nucleotide and amino acid sequences of V(H) and V(L) of four scFvs were deduced and their family and subgroup were analyzed. We found that the clones that do not express the scFv have aberrant kappa chain (incorrect V/J recombination or stop codon); in contrast, their heavy chain sequences proved correct. The E. coli-expressed scFvs showed 1.5 x 3.4-fold lower affinities (2.8 x 10(-8) approximately 3.6 x 10(-9) M) than those of hybridoma-derived parental antibodies except the one clone (C5), which exhibited approximately 10(-6) M of affinity.     

Humanization of a mouse monoclonal antibody neutralizing TNF-alpha by guided selection

With the advent of phage display antibody libraries, humanization of murine antibodies can be achieved by epitope guided selection. In present study, guided selection was applied to the humanization of the mouse mAb Z8 that is directed to human TNF-alpha and can neutralize the cytotoxicity of TNF-alpha. First, the Z8 Fd gene was paired as a template with a repertoire of human kappa chains, and displayed on the filamentous phage, forming a hybrid phage antibody library. Selected by four rounds of panning against TNF-alpha, hybrid antibody fragments that bound to TNF-alpha and contained human kappa chains were obtained. Meanwhile human Fd genes were selected by pairing the human Fd repertoire with the Z8 kappa chain and performing the same procedure of panning. One of the isolated human Fd genes (huFd2), which showed the strongest reactivity, was chosen to pair with 12 of selected human kappa chains. Two of the resulting human Fabs (huFd2-hukappa1 and huFd2-hukappa2), with same Fd and different kappa chains, bound to TNF-alpha specifically. Their human origin was proved by ELISA and sequencing analysis. The human Fabs competitive ELISA and in vitro TNF-alpha neutralization assay demonstrated that the human Fabs resembled its parental mouse mAb Z8 in that they both recognized the same epitope and neutralized the cytotoxicity of TNF-alpha. These results suggest that guided selection is a promising strategy in murine mAb humanization.     

Affinity maturation of recombinant antibodies using E. coli mutator cells

Background: Phage libraries can display repertoires of antibodies which are greater in number than the mammalian immune response. However, the selected antibodies often have low binding affinity to their target antigen or hapten (K_D below 10⁻⁶ M), which is characteristic of the primary immune repertoire. There is a need for procedures to mimic somatic hypermutation through antigen driven affinity maturation, thereby increasing the affinity of selected immunoglobulins. Objective: To investigate the effectiveness of mutation and affinity selection of recombinant antibody genes with mutator E. coli cells, incorporating phage-display strategies. Study design: Unique human scFvs were selected from a naive Fd-phage library. These genes were mutated by propagation in mutD5 mutator E. coli cells (mutD5-FIT) which were competent for Fd (M13) based phagemid transfections and generated point mutations (transversions and transitions) in the scFv genes. Individual phage-displayed scFvs were affinity selected from the mutation library and were assayed as soluble scFvs by ELISA and BIAcore for binding to antigen. Results: The in vivo mutation of phage-displayed scFvs in E. coli mutD5-FIT, combined with affinity selection against antigen, produced scFv molecules with improved binding activity. The point mutations which resulted in single amino acid substitutions frequently produced ten fold increases in apparent binding affinity. Structural comparisons revealed that these point mutations were in framework regions (adjacent to the CDRs) and within the CDRs. In one case the apparent affinity of an antiglycophorin scFv after mutation in the VL framework region close to CDR3 increased by 10³. However, this increase in apparent affinity was accompanied by an increased propensity to dimerise and form aggregates. Conclusions: A strategy for the rapid affinity maturation of scFv and Fab antibody fragments has been developed which utilises mutator strains of E. coli and incorporates phage display of antibody repertoires (libraries).     

The isolation and characterisation of human monoclonal HLA-A2 antibodies from an immune V gene phage display library

Molecular cloning techniques and V gene phage display have revolutionised the production of human monoclonal antibodies. Antibodies of a defined specificity can be obtained by selecting phage display libraries on antigen in a process known as panning. We have applied these techniques to the isolation of three HLA-A2-specific single chain variable domain fragments (scFv) from a patient alloimmunised by blood transfusion. Analysis of specificity with cells of HLA genotyped donors revealed the following: i) in addition to the major reactivity with HLA-A2, cross-reactivity with the HLA-A28 epitope; and ii) inhibition of scFv binding to the antigen by the patients' antibodies. The heavy chain variable genes of all three were derived from the germline gene Cos-3, carry the hallmarks of somatic hypermutation, and are most likely derived from clonally related B cells. The light chain variable domains were encoded by DPK1 and DPK8 from the VkappaI family. These data show that phage display can be used to clone HLA-specific alloantibodies that recognise the native antigen from alloimmunised patients.     

从噬菌体抗体库筛选人源性抗白细胞介素8抗体

目的: 从噬菌体抗体库中筛选人源性抗IL- 8单链抗体(scFV)。方法: 采用原核表达载体pRSET- IL- 8在大肠杆菌BL21(DE3)中表达IL- 8 His融合蛋白, 并通过亲和层析纯化。以该融合蛋白为固相抗原, 对噬菌体抗体库进行 3轮淘筛, 并对所获阳性克隆进行抗原结合活性测定和DNA序列测定。结果: 获得 2株特异性抗IL- 8噬菌体抗体。对其DNA序列测定结果表明, 其VH基因均属于人IgGVH3亚群, Vλ基因分别属于人VλDPL5和VλDPL2亚群。结论: 利用噬菌体抗体库技术可不经免疫制备人源性抗IL- 8抗体, 为银屑病及相关疾病的临床应用提供了条件。     

抗人纤维蛋白噬菌体单链抗体库的构建和鉴定

目的应用噬菌体展示技术构建抗人纤维蛋白单链抗体(scFv)文库,筛选高亲和力抗人纤维蛋白scFv并进行鉴定。方法利用人纤维蛋白免疫小鼠,分别扩增小鼠VH和VL基因,经重叠延伸聚合酶链反应(PCR)将VH和VL基因拼接成scFv基因,SfiⅠ/NotⅠ双酶切克隆入pCANTAB 5E噬菌粒载体,转化E.coli TG1构建成库,采用人纤维蛋白原对抗体库进行负筛选,人纤维蛋白进行正筛选,酶联免疫吸附分析(ELISA)检测阳性克隆的抗原特异性并进行测序分析。结果构建了库容为8.7×106的抗人纤维蛋白scFv库,ELISA测定显示scFv具有较高的抗原特异性;抗人纤维蛋白scFv基因序列长732 bp,编码244个氨基酸,VH和VL基因均有明确的3个互补决定区和4个骨架区。结论成功构建了抗人纤维蛋白scFv文库,并筛选到高亲和力的抗人纤维蛋白scFv,为新型血栓显像剂的开发奠定了实验基础。     

Selection of cell binding and internalizing epidermal growth factor receptor antibodies from a phage display library

The first step in developing a targeted cancer therapeutic is generating a ligand that binds to a receptor which is either tumor specific or sufficiently overexpressed in tumors to provide targeting specificity. For this work, we generated human monoclonal antibodies to the EGF receptor (EGFR), an antigen overexpressed on many solid tumors. Single chain Fv (scFv) antibody fragments were directly selected by panning a phage display library on tumor cells (A431) overexpressing EGFR or Chinese hamster ovary cells (CHO/EGFR cells) transfected with the EGFR gene and recovering endocytosed phage from within the cell. Three unique scFvs were isolated, two from selections on A431 cells and two from selections on CHO/EGFR cells. All three scFv bound native receptor as expressed on a panel of tumor cells and did not bind EGFR negative cells. Phage antibodies and multivalent immunoliposomes constructed from scFv were endocytosed by EGFR expressing cells as shown by confocal microscopy. Native scFv primarily stained the cell surface, with less staining intracellularly. The results demonstrate how phage antibodies binding native cell surface receptors can be directly selected on overexpressing cell lines or transfected cells. Use of a transfected cell line allows selection of antibodies to native receptors without the need for protein expression and purification, significantly speeding the generation of targeting antibodies to genomic sequences. Depending upon the format used, the antibodies can be used to deliver molecules to the cell surface or intracellularly.     

Molecular characterization and applications of recombinant scFv antibodies to CD152 co-stimulatory molecule

Recombinant human monoclonal antibodies against CD152 have been generated by selecting a synthetic phage scFv library with purified CD152-Ig fusion protein. Sixteen scFv fragments were isolated which specifically react with CD152 by enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blot resulting in their clustering into two groups recognizing different antigenic determinants. One group of scFvs (#3, #13, #40, #44, #47, #51, #57, #80 #83) recognized an epitope on CD152 dimer whereas another group (#15, #18, #31, #35, #54, #72, #81) recognized an epitope on both dimeric and monomeric CD152 molecule suggesting their possible use in understanding the subunit structure of CD152 which is still controversial. Sequencing of the VH genes revealed that all the scFvs belonged to the VH3 gene family but they were different in CDR3 length and composition. It was possible to correlate specific CDR3 sequences with reactivity of the two groups of scFvs. Four scFvs, #3, #40, #81 and #83, each representative of one specific CDR3, were selected for further analysis. Competition ELISA experiments showed that they recognize CD152 in its native configuration and bound to different epitopes from the CD80/CD86 interaction site. The scFvs were able to stain human T lymphocytes stimulated either with anti-CD3 and CD28 antibodies or PHA, PMA and ionomycin by cytofluorimetry suggesting that they can be useful reagents for monitoring the kinetics of surface-bound and intracellular CD152.     

全人源抗肝癌噬菌体单链抗体的筛选与鉴定

目的: 构建人源抗肝癌噬菌体单链抗体库, 从中筛选抗肝癌单链抗体(scFv), 并对其特异性进行鉴定.方法: 采用体外致敏法和EBV转化技术联合噬菌体展示技术构建噬菌体抗体库.对初级抗体库进行亲和富集及ELISA筛选, 获得的阳性克隆进行免疫组化鉴定并测序.结果: scFv基因与载体连接后得到库容量为1.0×108的初级噬菌体抗体库.对抗体库进行3轮正负淘选和富集后, 随机挑取2 798个克隆进行ELISA, 发现3个克隆对HepG2呈强阳性反应, 而与QSG-7701等人正常细胞系呈弱阳性或不反应.对克隆SA3进行免疫细胞化学鉴定, 结果与ELISA一致.免疫组织化学鉴定表明SA3与肝癌组织和肝组织阳性率的差别有统计学意义.结论: 构建了库容量达1×108的全人源抗肝癌噬菌体抗体库.通过淘选富集、 ELISA和免疫组织化学鉴定获得特异性较强的噬菌体克隆, 为肝癌的临床诊断及导向治疗奠定了基础.     

结肠癌相关抗原的制备及其临床意义

目的从培养的结肠癌细胞LOVO中纯化结肠癌相关抗原,探讨其在结肠癌患者血清中的表达。方法裂解结肠癌细胞LOVO,以抗结肠癌相关抗原单克隆抗体(mAb)4D10作为配基进行亲和层析纯化结肠癌相关抗原,SDS-PAGE电泳和Western blot进行鉴定,并用双抗夹心ELISA法检测该相关抗原在结肠癌患者及正常人血清中的表达。结果纯化所获与4D10特异结合的结肠癌相关抗原,其相对分子质量(Mr)约为65000,该抗原由Mr约为30000和35000两种亚基组成。人血清检测实验表明,该抗原在结肠癌患者血清中有较高的表达,与正常人血清相比存在显著的统计学差异(P<0.01)。结论利用mAb4D10进行免疫亲和层析,从结肠癌细胞LOVO中获得纯化的肿瘤相关抗原,该抗原有可能在临床上为结肠癌的诊断提供一定的参考价值。     

Isolation of two distinct populations of recombinant antibody molecules specific for rat malonyl-CoA decarboxylase from a semi-synthetic human scFv display library using Ex-phage system

A semi-synthetic human scFv phage display library by randomizing amino acid residues at CDR3H was constructed using pIGT3 phagemid vector. Recombinant phages were rescued by super-infecting the JS5 E. coli library stock with Ex-phage, the mutant M13KO7 helper phage containing amber mutations at gIII. The library was composed of 2 x 10(8) independent clones, and selected for the specific binders against malonyl-CoA decarboxylase (MCD) by panning. Five soluble scFv clones specific for MCD were finally identified and classified into two groups based on the difference in their binding pattern to MCD. Two clones (M4 and M8) showed good binding reactivity to MCD in ELISA but not in Western blot, whereas, the rest three clones (M23, M28 and M41) reacted to the antigen in Western blot but not in ELISA implying they bound to somewhat different epitopes on MCD. DNA sequencing analysis of M4, M8, M23 and M28 showed that VH of all clones were belonged to VH3 subgroup. On the other hand, M4 and M8 utilized VLkappa subgroup I, and M23 and M28 used VLkappa subgroup IV, suggesting that difference in binding pattern between M4/M8 and M23/M28 against MCD might come from the different VL gene utilization. In conclusion, human monoclonal scFv antibodies specific for MCD were successfully isolated and we demonstrated that distinct populations of recombinant antibodies specific to the target antigen could be isolated by Ex-phage system.     

从人源全合成抗体库中筛选到抗人干扰素α1b单链抗体

目的研究开发人源抗huIFN—α的基因工程抗体,为系统性红斑狼疮（Systemic lupus erythematosus,SLE）的治疗提供有效的抗体药物。方法本研究利用噬菌体表面展示技术,以纯化的人干扰素α1b（huIFN-α1b）和人干扰素α2b（huIFN—α2b）蛋白为抗原从人源全合成抗体库中筛选抗huIFN-α的基因工程单链（single chain variable fragment,scFv）抗体,通过phage—ELISA对噬菌体单链抗体的结合特异性和稳定性进行验证。将单链抗体基因克隆到原核分泌表达载体pET22b上在大肠杆菌BL21（DE3）中表达,通过Western blot检测单链抗体的分泌表达,并通过ELISA对单链抗体的结合特异性进行验证。通过金属螯合亲和层析纯化单链抗体,并用Western Blot对单链抗体的结合特异性进行鉴定。结果经过3轮富集筛选,获得100株对huIFN—α1b有特异性结合的噬菌体单链抗体。对得到的86株克隆的测序分析表明,共有9株带有不同的抗体轻重链可变区序列及其组合的抗体,有7株抗体轻重链可变区序列分类在VH3和VL3家族,有2株抗体轻重链可变区序列分类在VH3和VL1家族。获得了5株稳定且特异针对huIFN—α1b而与huIFN-α2b和huIFN-γ无交叉反应的人源单抗。这5株抗体在BL21（DE3）中分泌表达,有3株单链抗体能特异性结合huIFN-α1b而与无关抗原无交叉反应。结论通过噬菌体表面展示技术,从人源全合成抗体库中筛选得到3株稳定且特异结合huIFN—α1b的人源治疗用基因工程单克隆抗体。     

Downstream characterization of anti-TNF-α single chain variable fragment antibodies

Using phage display technology (PDT), we have recently isolated single-chain variable fragment (scFv) antibodies (Ab) against some pivotal molecular markers involved in malignancies and systemic inflammation including human tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α, GI:367465798). Downstream purification and characterization of scFv antibodies is a challenging issue, which may impose substantial impacts on quality of the final product(s). Of various purification methods, affinity chromatography has widely been used in the pharmaceutical grade downstream processing (PGDP) of proteins (e.g., monoclonal antibody (mAb) and scFvs). To pursue an optimized PGDP, in the current study, we have capitalized PDT for upstream selection of anti-TNF-α scFvs and protein A affinity chromatography (PAAC) for downstream extraction and purification of the scFvs from the crude medium secreted and periplasmic fractions of HB2151 cells. The versatility of the PDT selection was validated using SDS-PAGE electrophoresis, western blot, dot blot, ELISA and fluorescence microscopy. SDS-PAGE western blot analyses displayed a 17 kDa scFv with high purity (> 98%), while dot blot and ELISA analyses showed high specificity and binding affinity of the purified scFv antibody fragments toward human TNF-α at nM range. Fluorescence microscopy further confirmed detection of TNF-α in Raji B lymphoblast cells. Finally, based on our findings, we believe that these PDT selected and PAAC processed scFvs may be used as targeting and/or therapy agent for TNF-α mediated diseases. Further, to increase the production yield, downstream purification techniques need to be optimized for the large scale production of scFv antibodies.     

Neutralizing human anti crotoxin scFv isolated from a nonimmunized phage library

Combinatorial phage display technology offers a new possibility for making human antibodies which could be used in immune therapy. We explored the use of this technology to make human scFvs specific for crotoxin, the main toxic component of the venom of the South-American rattlesnake Crotalus durissus terrificus. Crotoxin, a phospholipase A2 neurotoxin constituted by the association of two subunits, exerts its lethal action by blocking neuromuscular transmission. This is the first report of human anticrotoxin scFvs (scFv 1, scFv 6 and scFv 8) isolated from a naive library of more than 1010 scFv clones with in vivo neutralizing activity. Nevertheless, differences are observed at the level of biological and immunological effects. Only scFv 8 is able to reduce the myotoxicity induced by crotoxin and scFv 1 is capable of altering the in vitro enzymatic activity of this toxin. All three scFvs recognize a region of one subunit located at the junction with the other one. Moreover these scFvs share strong amino acid homologies at the level of either the heavy or the light chain. Taken together, our results suggest that the use of human anticrotoxin scFvs may lead to a new and less aggressive passive immune therapy against poisoning by the venom of Crotalus durissus terrificus.