EXPRESSION OF ANTIBODY FRAGMENTS IN ESCHERICHIA-COLI

Monoclonal antibodies (MAb) offer great opportunities for study, both as possible clinical agents, and as models for intermolecular interact ions. Recently, it has been demonstrated that prokaryotic organisms, m ost notably Escherichia coli, can serve as hosts for the production of antibody fragments that retain the binding specificity of the parenta l immunoglobulin. A variety of structures and specificities have been successfully produced. However, results and interpretations have been somewhat confusing. Here we review and discuss reports of expression o f antibody fragments in E. coli with respect to protein structure, gen etic regulation, protein folding and subcellular localization.