What Does It Take to Bring New Nano Antibodies (nAbs) to the Hands of Researchers?

Judging from the hundreds of papers published using camelid VHH antibodies as reagents, there are probably thousands of researchers who have experience with this type of antibodies by now. We like to call the ~15kD camelid VHH antibody nano antibody or nAb^TM. Once someone experiences how well a nAb works for co-IP using a fluorescent protein as tag, they often wonder what it takes to bring nAbs to broader use.

The success of a nAb project starts with the antigen presentation. It is critical to build the capability to produce large quantities of recombinant antigen for immunization. At Allele, our scientists also established some unique presentation formats for traditionally difficult targets (e.g. large membrane proteins).

After llama immunization, the next step is screening. With the goal of creating large scale nano antibodies against diverse targets, we have developed multiple high throughput screening methods to cover very large, diverse libraries generated from immunized animals. The technologies will continue to evolve as the scale of nAb generation continues to expand. We have the ability to functionally screen for site-blocking antibodies and antibodies that only recognized natively folded targets, or targets in their naturally occurring presentations.

A nAb isolation project does not end with the obtaining of a cDNA clone. Or, if it does, the nAb is probably not as great as what Allele Biotech has been offering. In our hands, all nAbs go through an engineering step beginning with the generation of a 3D structural model of the isolated clone. We use structure-guided design to alter the protein, allowing us to improve its properties. This includes increasing affinity, solubility, or altering the protein to improve performance for specific applications. We also like to use known structures of traditional monoclonal antibodies to assist camelid VHH antibody engineering against specific targets.

With a finalized clone in hand, the next step is to establish protocols for commercial production. The Allele team spends a tremendous amount of effort aimed solely at high-yield, low-cost recombinant VHH antibody production in a variety of formats, so that the costs for other scientists to take advantage of these great reagents can be kept as low as possible.

Last but not the least, nAb labeling, including conjugating stable soluble VHH antibody to solid supports for immunoprecipitation or to fluorophores for detection, requires additional expertise and tight operation control. However, our vision is to have a modular system for antibody labeling that will enable the end user to select from a variety of fluorophores and other detection tags, which can be instantaneously and irreversibly coupled via simple mixing.

Note added: we work with commercial (diagnostic and clinical) partners from developing nAbs all the way to the market. We have expert scientists available to customers and licensees for consultation and troubleshooting antibody- and imaging-related questions and problems.

Tags: alpaca antibody, antibodies against membrane proteins, antibody engineering, camelid antibodies, GFP-nAb, GFP-Trap, llama antibody, mNeonGreen-nAb, nAb, nanoantibodies, nanoantibody, VHH

Opportunities for business with Allele Biotech

Allele Biotech is known for staying on the edge of biological research fronts when it comes to developing new technologies into useful tools. Our research also has far-reaching implications and potential applications outside of the traditional biomedical research reagent field. Some of these technologies were the results of researchers interacting with the Allele scientific team, who wanted Allele to help realize their potentials. If you are interested in investing, co-developing, or trading in our areas of expertise, please email us at oligo@allelebiotech.com.

1) A novel method of discriminating and/or detecting mismatched polynucleotide populations in a sample, or determining the relative abundance of the species contained in the sample based on the changes in the relative ratios following a critical treatment. This technology, subject of a current patent application, can provide great benefits in polynucleotide-based diagnosis.

2) A technology on how to utilize the light-absorbing capabilities of certain light-absorbing proteins against damaging lights, or in cosmetic or beauty products. It is also a subject of a filed full patent.

3) Products that relate to detecting swine flu with novel antibodies of high specificity and stability. The antibodies have been tested in academic molecular biology labs in ELISA and strip formats.

4) Nanotechnology products that can be immediately applied to prevent citrus diseases on farms.

5) Enzymes as additives to animal feeds that help farm animals digest. The product is already being sold in certain regions.

Tags: beauty products, chicken feed, cosmetic, diagnosis, farm animals, skin care, swine flu

New SurfaceBind gDNA Isolation and Purification

Allele Biotech’s SurfaceBind Genomic DNA Pu¬rification Kit is designed for fast, easy, and high-throughput gDNA isolation and purification for lysate obtained through the use of Allele-in-One Mouse Tail Direct Lysis Buffer. Based on our Solid Surface Revers¬ible Binding (SSRB) technology the SurfaceBind system utilizes a plastic tube with its surface coated with proprietary turbo-binders acting to selectively capture and efficiently bind DNA mol¬ecules from reaction mixtures. After lysis of cells, gDNA molecules will specifically interact with the turbo binders and bind to the surface of the tube in the presence of the binding buffer, while pro¬teins and other contaminants will remain in solu¬tion. The DNA can be eluted with as little as 10 microliters of water or buffer for the next application, allowing for a highly concentrated solution.

The entire process of recovery takes less than 10 minutes with only 1 centrifugation step, making it fast and easy. SSRB technology also provides for maxi¬mum DNA capture and release with limited sam¬ple input, without the DNA loss associated with membrane and bead-based technologies.

This is a newly developed product particularly for the Allele Biotech’s customers who use the All-in-One mouse tail genotyping kits: get purified genomic DNA using the same lysate you generated for a quick PCR. The yield and purity will enable direct applications to chip assays, sequencing, Southern blotting, etc.Next time you use Allele-in-One Mouse Tail Direct Lysis Buffer be sure to try our SurfaceBind gDNA Purification kit.

mWasabi-GFP Expression vector with IRES for co-expression. Cat # ABP-FP-WIRES10. email FP@allelebiotech.com for more FP IRES-containing plasmids.

10% off all mTFP1-expressing plasmids this week, check out the vectror you like at shop.allelebiotech.com

Tags: DNA purification, genomic DNA, microarray DNA, mouse tail genotyping, next generation sequencing, one step PCR, Southern Blot

Allele Has a Gift for You

Throughout the month of December when you make a qualifying purchase at Allele Biotech you will receive a gift. It’s our way of celebrating and thanking our customers this holiday season. So stock up for the New Year, and receive one of our great gifts in the process; the details are as follows.

Spend $500 and receive an iPOD Shuffle!
Spend $1500 and receive a Kindle!
Spend $2500 and receive an iPOD Touch!
Spend $5000 and receive an iPAD!

Terms and Conditions: Offer valid from December 1st 2010 to January 1st 2011. Offer cannot be combined with any other discounts or offers. Qualifying amount must be reached before taxes and shipping. Offer excludes ACT-CM-GFA0250, ACT-CM-GFA0500, ACT-CM-GFM0250, ACT-CM-GFM0500. Subject to availability, we reserve the right to change this offer at any time.

Apple, iPOD, iPAD are trademarks of Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is not a sponsor or affiliated with this promotion. Kindle is a trademark of Amazon Inc. Amazon Inc. is not a sponsor or affiliated with this promotion.

Thank you once again and have a Happy Holiday.

New Product of the Week 112910-120510:

nCre-RFP fusion on prepackaged lentivirus, email FP@allelebiotech.com for product details.

Promotion of the Wee 1112910-120510:

10% discount on all Orbigen polyclonal antibodies this week if you use code FB112910Ab when ordering by emailing oligo@allelebiotech.com.

Tags: customers, December, gift, holiday season, holidays, iPAD, iPDD, iPOD, Kindle, New Year, stock up

Many Thanks to Give

We would like to thank our customers for choosing Allele’s products and services. The economic conditions have been challenging for the last two years and are still difficult. Allele Biotech could not have possibly achieved what it has within this time period without the support of its customers.

We thank online readers who visit our Blogs, News and Technical Forum to make our webpage one of the highest ranked among biology reagent suppliers; surpassing Clontech, Stratagene, Promega, IDT, etc. (by online ranking service Alexa’s accounts).

We thank our collaborators (some converted from customers) and business partners (manufacturers, distributors, licensors) for working with Allele and making our plan of one new product per week a reality. Allele Biotech has a very innovative and able research team, but working with researchers outside of the company is always a major part of the R&D effort at Allele.

Allele Biotech is obliged to its employees for their creativity, organization, dedication, and professionalism. The culture that they have nurtured here is to be individually motivated as a basic research group, and to be disciplined and organized as a service provider at the same time.

Allele Biotech is a beneficiary of the US government’s policies on supporting biomedical research and innovation. We appreciate the support for our basic research in the forms of grants and contracts from the NIH and the IRS, and ultimately the American tax payers. It is our duty to create and produce better tools for improving human health.

Thank you once again and have a Happy Holiday!

New Product of the Week 112210-112810:

Photoconvertible FP mClavGR (green-to-red) on lentiviral vector pLICO, email FP@allelebiotech.com for product details.

Promotion of the Wee 112210-112810:

10% additional discount off HPLC siRNA’s promotion price, $135/15 nmol, use promo code FB112210si, order by emailing oligo@allelebiotech.com.

Tags: Clontech, collaboration, collaborators, customer opinions, customer service, IDT DNA, IDT oligo, Life Technologies, mClavGR, photoconvertible FP, promega, Stratagene, thanksgiving