Frontiers in Microbiology (Aug 2022)

Generation of synthetic antibody fragments with optimal complementarity determining region lengths for Notch-1 recognition

  • Bharathikumar Vellalore Maruthachalam,
  • Kris Barreto,
  • Daniel Hogan,
  • Anthony Kusalik,
  • Clarence Ronald Geyer

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.931307
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13

Abstract

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Synthetic antibodies have been engineered against a wide variety of antigens with desirable biophysical, biochemical, and pharmacological properties. Here, we describe the generation and characterization of synthetic antigen-binding fragments (Fabs) against Notch-1. Three single-framework synthetic Fab libraries, named S, F, and modified-F, were screened against the recombinant human Notch-1 extracellular domain using phage display. These libraries were built on a modified trastuzumab framework, containing two or four diversified complementarity-determining regions (CDRs) and different CDR diversity designs. In total, 12 Notch-1 Fabs were generated with 10 different CDRH3 lengths. These Fabs possessed a high affinity for Notch-1 (sub-nM to mid-nM KDapp values) and exhibited different binding profiles (mono-, bi-or tri-specific) toward Notch/Jagged receptors. Importantly, we showed that screening focused diversity libraries, implementing next-generation sequencing approaches, and fine-tuning the CDR length diversity provided improved binding solutions for Notch-1 recognition. These findings have implications for antibody library design and antibody phage display.

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