Creative Biolabs Press Release: Breakthrough in In Vitro Nanobody Discovery

NEW YORK, NY - Feb 11, 2015 - In the world of bioscience, Nanobodies (Nbs) or single-domain antibodies are among the smallest and most stable binder scaffolds known by now. In vitro display is a powerful antibody discovery technique used worldwide. Scientists and related institutions are researching so as to make a breakthrough into this field.

Recently, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, after a long-term study, caught the attention by describing the first adaptation of in vitro mRNA/cDNA display for the rapid, automatable discovery of Nbs against desired targets. They used it to discover the first ever reported nanobody against the human full-length glucose transporter, GLUT-1, and envisioned their streamlined method as a bench-top platform technology, in combination with various molecular evolution techniques, for expedited Nb discovery. Nature Journal published their article about this discovery.

Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences did many preparations for this research with the help of other institutions and companies, among which there is Creative Biolabs. Creative Biolabs provided them with HuSdL, Human Single Domain Antibody Library service.

Single-domain antibodies represent the smallest antibody that was proven of diagnostic and therapeutic usefulness. In particular, they combine the benefits of conventional antibodies with important features of small molecule drugs. In addition, single-domain antibodies are able to bind to hidden epitopes that are not accessible to whole antibodies,. Also, in comparison with small molecule drugs that target enzyme active sites and receptor clefts, single domain antibodies have the potential of greater affinity and selectivity, thus promising lower side effect and better efficacy. Furthermore, because of their small size (they are only 1/10th the size of a whole antibody), single domain antibodies can penetrate tissues faster than other antibodies, and even break through the brain´s blood barrier, which turns them into excellent candidates for central nervous system disease therapies. Single domain antibodies have higher stability to changes in temperature and chemical environments, and have the great potential of gastrointestinal stability and oral availability. Also, due to its simple nature of a single-chain peptide, single domain antibodies have exceptional drug format flexibility and allow efficient drug discovery and development.

Creative Biolabs is the recognized leader in single domain antibody library fields. A wide range of unique services are available, including construction of immunized single domain antibody libraries using llama and camel, construction of synthetic camelised human single domain antibody libraries using DNA synthesis, bio-panning of single domain antibodies libraries and large scale production of recombinant single domain antibodies.

Their single domain antibody library platforms enable the generation of panels of high-affinity single domain antibodies ready for further development in 8 weeks of target access. We have produced a large number of high-affinity, high specificity single domain antibodies again a large number of distinct targets, including: cytokines, cell surface receptors, tumor cell markers, viral antigens and enzymes. Of note, single domain antibodies are perfectly stable polypeptides harboring the full antigen-binding capacity of conventional antibodies. This unique structural and functional property renders these molecules ideal candidates for new generation of antibody therapeutics.