- Previous Article
- Next Article
- Table of Contents
International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Vol.12, No.1, 1-11, 2011
Stabilization of the Single-Chain Fragment Variable by an Interdomain Disulfide Bond and Its Effect on Antibody Affinity
The interdomain instability of single-chain fragment variable (scFv) might result in intermolecular aggregation and loss of function. In the present study, we stabilized H4-an anti-aflatoxin B-1 (AFB(1)) scFv-with an interdomain disulfide bond and studied the effect of the disulfide bond on antibody affinity. With homology modeling and molecular docking, we designed a scFv containing an interdomain disulfide bond between the residues H44 and L100. The stability of scFv (H4) increased from a GdnHCl(50) of 2.4 M to 4.2 M after addition of the H44-L100 disulfide bond. Size exclusion chromatography revealed that the scFv (H44-L100) mutant existed primarily as a monomer, and no aggregates were detected. An affinity assay indicated that scFv (H4) and the scFv (H44-L100) mutant had similar IC50 values and affinity to AFB(1). Our results indicate that interdomain disulfide bonds could stabilize scFv without affecting affinity.