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. 2022:2446:3-17.
doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2075-5_1.

Nanobodies: From Serendipitous Discovery of Heavy Chain-Only Antibodies in Camelids to a Wide Range of Useful Applications

Fangling Ji  1 , Jun Ren  1 , Cécile Vincke  2   3 , Lingyun Jia  1 , Serge Muyldermans  4   5
Affiliations

Nanobodies: From Serendipitous Discovery of Heavy Chain-Only Antibodies in Camelids to a Wide Range of Useful Applications

Fangling Ji et al. Methods Mol Biol. 2022.

Abstract

The presence of unique heavy chain-only antibodies (HCAbs) in camelids was discovered at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB, Brussels, Belgium) at a time when many researchers were exploring the cloning and expression of smaller antigen-binding fragments (Fv and Fab) from hybridoma-derived antibodies. The potential importance of this discovery was anticipated, and efforts were immediately undertaken to understand the emergence and ontogeny of these HCAbs as well as to investigate the applications of the single-domain antigen-binding variable domains of HCAbs (nanobodies). Nanobodies were demonstrated to possess multiple biochemical and biophysical advantages over other antigen-binding antibody fragments and alternative scaffolds. Today, nanobodies have a significant and growing impact on research, biotechnology, and medicine.

Keywords: Camels; Heavy chain antibodies; Llamas; Nanobodies; Single domain antibodies; VHHs.

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