Nanobody-based products as research and diagnostic tools.
Since the serendipitous discovery 20 years ago of bona fide camelid heavy-chain antibodies, their single-domain antigen-binding fragments, known as VHHs or nanobodies, have received a progressively growing interest. As a result of the beneficial properties of these stable recombinant entities, they are currently highly valued proteins for multiple applications, including fundamental research, diagnostics, and therapeutics. Today, with the original patents expiring, even more academic and industrial groups are expected to explore innovative VHH applications. Here, we provide a thorough overview of novel implementations of VHHs as research and diagnostic tools, and of the recently evaluated production platforms for several VHHs and VHH-derived antibody formats.
Department of Plant Systems Biology, VIB, 9052 Gent, Belgium; Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, 9052 Gent, Belgium.
Thomas
T
De Meyer
Structural Biology Research Center, VIB, 1050 Brussel, Belgium; Research Unit of Cellular and Molecular Immunology, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Brussel, Belgium.
Serge
S
Muyldermans
Department of Plant Systems Biology, VIB, 9052 Gent, Belgium; Department of Plant Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ghent University, 9052 Gent, Belgium. Electronic address: anpic@psb.vib-ugent.be.
Ann
A
Depicker
D001688:Biological Products / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D061905:Single-Domain Antibodies
D001688:Biological Products; D061905:Single-Domain Antibodies
GFP-binding protein; antibody fragment; nanobody; plant production platform; recombinant protein production; yeast production platform