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Nanobodies - the new
concept in antibody engineering
Khalissa Deffar1,2,
Hengliang Shi1,
Liang Li1,
Xingzhi Wang1 and
Xiaojuan Zhu1*
1Institute
of Genetics and Cytology, Northeast Normal University, Key
Laboratory of Molecular Epigenetics of Ministry of
Education, Changchun, 130024, P. R. China.
2Faculty
of Science, Department of Biology, Ferhat Abbas University,
Setif, 19000, Algeria.
*Corresponding author. E-mail:
zhuxj720@nenu.edu.cn.
Tel: +86-431-85099769.
Abbreviations: HcAb’s,
Heavy-chain antibodies; VHH, variable domain of
heavy-chain antibody; mAbs, monoclonal antibodies;
FDA, food and drug administration; Fab,
fragment-antigen binding;
Fc,
fragment crystalline;
scFv, single-chain variable fragment; VH,
variable domain of the heavy chain; VL,
variable domain of the light chain; IgG,
immunoglobulin class G; V-NAR, variable region of new
or nurse shark antigen receptor; Ag, antigen; CDR,
complementarity-determining regions; CH, constant
heavy domain; CEA, carcinoembryonic antigen; PSA,
prostate-specific antigen; EGFR, epidermal growth
factor receptor;
Aah,
Androctonus autralis hector scorpion;
SPECT,
single photon emission computed tomography; TNFα,
tumour necrosis factor; NCC, neurocysticercosis and
DARPins,
designed ankyrin repeat proteins.
Accepted 21
April, 2009 |
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Nanobodies are antibody-derived therapeutic proteins that
contain the unique structural and functional properties of
naturally occurring heavy-chain antibodies. The Nanobody
technology was originally developed following the discovery
that camelidae (camels and llamas) possess fully
functional antibodies that lack light chains. These
heavy-chain antibodies contain a single variable domain (VHH)
and two constant domains (CH2 and CH3).
Importantly, the cloned and isolated VHH domain is a
perfectly stable polypeptide harboring the full
antigen-binding capacity of the original heavy-chain
antibody. These newly discovered VHH domains with their
unique structural and functional properties form the basis
of a new generation of therapeutic antibodies which were
named Nanobodies. The aim of this paper is to show the
properties of Nanobodies, their production and expression,
applications and their clinical status.
Key
words:
Nanobodies, camelidae, antibody engineering,
Nanoclone. |
