Recombinant antibodies: a new reagent for biological agent detection.
Antibodies are critical reagents used in several biodetection platforms for the identification of biological agents. Recent advances in phage display technology allow isolation of high affinity recombinant antibody fragments (Fabs) that may bind unique epitopes of biological threat agents. The versatility of the selection process lends itself to efficient screening methodologies and can increase the number of antigen binding clones that can be isolated. Pilot scale biomanufacturing can then be used for the economical production of these immunoglobulin reagents in bacterial fermentation systems, and expression vectors with hexahistidine tags can be used to simplify downstream purification. One such Fab reagent directed against botulinum neurotoxin A/B has been shown to be sensitive in a variety of assay formats including surface plasmon resonance (SPR), flow cytometry, enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), and hand-held immunochromatographic assay. Recombinant antibodies can provide another source of high quality detection reagents in our arsenal to identify or detect pathogens in environmental samples.
Emanuel
P A
PA
Research and Technology Directorate, U.S. Army Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD 21010, USA. peter.emanuel@sbccom.apgea.army.mil
Dang
J
J
Gebhardt
J S
JS
Aldrich
J
J
Garber
E A
EA
Kulaga
H
H
Stopa
P
P
Valdes
J J
JJ
Dion-Schultz
A
A
D000818:Animals; D000915:Antibody Affinity; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D015374:Biosensing Techniques; D001905:Botulinum Toxins / Q000276:immunology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D007140:Immunoglobulin Fab Fragments / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000276:immunology*
D007140:Immunoglobulin Fab Fragments; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D001905:Botulinum Toxins