The Highly Evolvable Antibody Fc Domain

Abstract

The Fc region of the IgG antibody recruits immune leukocytes or serum complement molecules, which in turn triggers the clearance of defective cells such as tumor cells or infected cells. In addition, the Fc region is crucial for the prolonged serum persistence of circulating IgG antibodies through an intracellular trafficking and recycling mechanism. Recently, the utility of antibody Fc has been further expanded to include a new class of antigen-binding scaffolds. This review presents the recent progress in the field of antibody Fc engineering and highlights new biomolecular, cellular, and evolutionary approaches to overcome the limitations of conventional monoclonal therapeutic antibodies by engineering the antibody Fc domain.

Keywords: antibody Fc; antibody engineering; effector functions; serum half-life.