Recombinant proteins as antigens

Developing a high-throughput technology platform to develop novel antigens from gene sequences was inspired by a lack of quality antibodies available on the market.

The production of a recombinant protein which, when used as an immunogen, maintains the characteristics of the native protein is a major advantage for research scientists. Producing recombinant proteins as antigens rather than the traditional peptide approach stimulates a superior antibody response with greater affinity and avidity for this reason.

The technology of Fusion Antibodies Ltd offers synthesis of recombinant proteins. Projects can be carried out from a gene sequence. Antigenic regions are then selected by using bioinformatics and these are cloned into proprietary expression vectors ­ expressing multiple fusions to rapidly assess solubility. Soluble fusions are identified by high-throughput technology, scaled up and purified to at least 95 per cent. The timescale from genes to milligram quantities of recombinant protein is from as little as 15 days.

Fabs and scFvs are also produced with this technology, which due to their smaller size allow tighter packing on miniaturised arrays. Monovalent antibody fragments also have the potential to reduce cross-reactivity.

Enter 8 or at www.scientistlive.com/elab

Fusion Antibodies Ltd's Department of Microbiology and Immunology is based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. www.fusionantibodies.com

Recent Issues