Different Strategies used in the Production of human monoclonal scfv Antibodies Specific to Dimers of Membrane Receptors

Phage display technology is one of the methods widely adopted for the production of human monoclonal antibodies. The subject of the present research was the scFv - single chain variable fragment antibody - which was able to recognize the D2-5-HT1A heteromer formed by dopamine D2 and serotonin 5-HT1A receptors. The antibody was selected using the phage display technique and the human antibody scFv phagemid library Tomlinson J. We investigated two expression systems: prokaryotic and eukaryotic. The results indicate that both of these systems (E.coli HB2151 and High Five cells (BTI-TN-5B1-4) of Trichopulsia ni) are suitable for the production of scFv antibodies, but the scFvs obtained from insect cells could attain a higher protein concentration. Next, we examined a few purification methods: immobilized-metal affinity chromatography (IMAC), affinity chromatography with the c-myc tag and the methods using protein L or A agarose, which are applicable to scFvs lacking tags. In the bacterial as well as insect cell expression systems, protein L agarose chromatography gave satisfactory results, and in our opinion, it is the best choice as a purification resin. Additionally, circular dichroism measurements confirmed the predominant content of secondary structures in the tested antibodies, which is consistent with the literature data.