Stability engineering of antibody single-chain Fv fragments

The application of single-chain Fv fragments (scFv) in medicine and biotech nology places great demands on their stability. Only recently has attention been given to the production of highly stable scFvs, and in a number of ex amples it was found that such fragments indeed perform better during practi cal applications. The structural parameters influencing scFv stability are now beginning to be elucidated. This review summarizes progress in rational and evolutionary engineering methods, the structural implications of these results, as well as some examples where stability engineering has been suc cessfully applied. (C) 2001 Academic Press.