title: Camelid nanobodies: killing two birds with one stone.
abstract: In recent years, the use of single-domain camelid immunoglobulins, termed vHHs or nanobodies, has seen increasing growth in biotechnology, pharmaceutical applications and structure/function research. The usefulness of nanobodies in structural biology is now firmly established, as they provide access to new epitopes in concave and hinge regions - and stabilize them. These sites are often associated with enzyme inhibition or receptor neutralization, and, at the same time, provide favorable surfaces for crystal packing. Remarkable results have been achieved by using nanobodies with flexible multi-domain proteins, large complexes and, last but not least, membrane proteins. While generating nanobodies is still a rather long and expensive procedure, the advent of naive libraries might be expected to facilitate the whole process.
authors.affiliation: Aix-Marseille Université, Architecture et Fonction des Macromolécules Biologiques, France; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, AFMB, UMR 7257, case 932, 13288 Marseille Cedex 09, France.
authors.forename: Aline
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Desmyter
authors.affiliation: Aix-Marseille Université, Architecture et Fonction des Macromolécules Biologiques, France; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, AFMB, UMR 7257, case 932, 13288 Marseille Cedex 09, France.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Spinelli
authors.affiliation: Aix-Marseille Université, Architecture et Fonction des Macromolécules Biologiques, France; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, AFMB, UMR 7257, case 932, 13288 Marseille Cedex 09, France.
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Roussel
authors.affiliation: Aix-Marseille Université, Architecture et Fonction des Macromolécules Biologiques, France; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, AFMB, UMR 7257, case 932, 13288 Marseille Cedex 09, France. Electronic address: cambillau@afmb.univ-mrs.fr.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cambillau
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002161:Camelids, New World / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D003460:Crystallization / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011487:Protein Conformation; D055550:Protein Stability; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D061905:Single-Domain Antibodies / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins; D061905:Single-Domain Antibodies