A Single-Chain Antibody Using LoxP511 as the Linker Enables Large-Content Phage Library Construction via Cre/LoxP Recombination

Abstract

To obtain natural or “me-better” antibodies (e.g., affinity-maturated antibodies), phage display libraries are widely used. However, the likelihood of obtaining satisfactory antibodies depends on the library content. Here, we used computer-aided design to model the use of the LoxP511 site as a linker between the heavy and light variable domains of an antibody for construction of a large single-chain fragment (scFv) antibody phage library by using the Cre/LoxP recombinant system. Then, we constructed two novel scFvs based on 2C4, namely, AH_scFv15 (15 amino acid [aa] linker; common [SG4]3 sequence) and AH_scFv21 (21-aa linker; LoxP511 sequence), to verify the use of the LoxP511 site as a linker. Our results indicate that LoxP511 could be used effectively for the construction of a large (e.g., 5 × 1012) phage display library of scFv antibodies from which it was possible to isolate an antibody with the same epitope as 2C4 but with higher affinity.