From 2012.igem.org

Antibody Generation System – Maturation, Selection and Production in CHO Cells

Antibodies are highly important molecules for research and therapy but their generation is laborious and time consuming. We established a novel streamlined workflow for obtaining antibodies by incorporating all standard steps such as antibody maturation, selection and production in one genetic system implemented into a eukaryotic cell line. We stably transfect an antibody construct into CHO cells and mimic maturation by using the enzyme AID (activation induced deaminase), which is known to induce somatic hypermutation. For selection, we are testing and deploying a versatile and continuous viral system as well as magnetic beads and cell sorting. Finally, a genetic switch will enable the transition from surface expression to production of soluble antibodies. In addition, we pursue phage display with an antibody fragment to study mutation rate and evolution by AID in prokaryotes. Our system supersedes animal immunization and the smooth process will increase the ready availability of antibodies in various formats.

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