Isolation of single-chain variable fragment (scFv) antibodies against synthetic peptide fragments of human cathepsin S.

This transaction reports on the on-going attempt to isolate anti-peptide scFv antibodies from an scFv phage-display library capable of detecting the native protein from which the peptide sequence was derived. The display of antibody fragments on the surface of filamentous bacteriophage by fusion to the minor coat protein (plll) and selection of phage with antigen, has provided a powerful method of generating antibodies of pre-defined specificity without the need for immunization (for review see Ref [I]). Having successhlly generated antibodies against human cathepsin S utilizing homology-based molecular modelling of cathepsin S, epitope prediction and multiple antigenic peptide synthesis followed by polyclonal antibody production in rabbits [2], it was wondered whether a linear version of the peptides would enable the isolation of scFv antibodies from a phage display library capable of cross-reacting with native cathepsin S (Table 1 )