Digoxin-specific Fab (Digibind) is a mixture of antidigoxin Fab fragments prepared from sheep sera and is used as a treatment for digoxin poisoning. Digoxin-specific Fab has been shown to neutralize an endogenous Na+/K+ ATPase inhibitor (endogenous digoxin-like Na+/K+ ATPase regulatory factor; EDLF) in rats and humans and to lower blood pressure. Although the exact structure of EDLF is unknown,...

Cell-to-cell adhesion during aggregation of Dictyostelium discoideum cells is completely blocked by univalent antibody (Fab) directed against two classes of target sites: surface structures characteristic for aggregation-competent cells ("contact sites A") and others present also on growth-phase cells ("contact sites B"). 3 x 10(5) Fab molecules bound per cell are sufficient to block contact si...

In this report, we describe the high-yield secretory expression of the recombinant human anti-HBsAg Fab fragment from Pichia pastoris that was achieved by co-integration of the genes encoding the heavy and light chains (both under the control of alcohol oxidase promoter) into the genome of the yeast cells. The fed-batch fermentations were carried out in a 5 L scale. Both chains of the Fab were ...

Various native and hinge-modified forms of Ig with identical Ids were reacted with an anti-Id mAb, and the resultant immune complexes were analyzed by negative stain immunoelectron microscopy. Complexes were scored for their geometry (linear versus ring complexes) and size (dimer, trimer, etc.). Ring dimers are the thermodynamically most favorable configuration, unless inhibited by steric and/o...

BACKGROUND Non-motor symptoms have been described in primary dystonia, but the results on cognitive impairment in this condition are discordant. Blepharospasm (BM) is a type of primary focal dystonia characterized by recurrent and involuntary eye blinking. Hemifacial spasm (HS), a condition with different pathophysiology, constitutes an adequate control group when investigating non-motor distur...

The concentration of radioiodinated (Fab')2 fragments of cardiac specific antimyosin antibody in myocardial infarcts has been shown previously to be inversely proportional to regional myocardial blood flow. The myocardial localization of antibody fragments has also been visualized by gamma camera scintigraphy. We now correlate the site of 121I-antimyosin (Fab')2 uptake with histochemical and hi...

The concentration of radioiodinated (Fab')2 fragments of cardiac specific antimyosin antibody in myocardial infarcts has been shown previously to be inversely proportional to regional myocardial blood flow. The myocardial localization of antibody fragments has also been visualized by gamma camera scintigraphy. We now correlate the site of 121I-antimyosin (Fab')2 uptake with histochemical and hi...

Thrombospondin (TSP), the major alpha-granule protein of human platelets, binds to the activated platelet surface upon platelet stimulation. TSP has hemagglutinating (lectin-like) activity and forms a specific complex with fibrinogen. Based on these observations, it was postulated that the interaction of TSP and fibrinogen on the activated platelet surface may be an important step in the platel...

The N-linked glycosylation of the constant fragment (Fc) of immunoglobulin G has been shown to change during pathological and physiological events and to strongly influence antibody inflammatory properties. In contrast, little is known about Fab-linked N-glycosylation, carried by ∼ 20% of IgG. Here we present a high-throughput workflow to analyze Fab and Fc glycosylation of polyclonal IgG purif...

The recombinant expression of immunoglobulin domains, Fabs and scFvs in particular, in Escherichia coli can vary significantly from antibody to antibody. We hypothesized that poor Fab expression is often linked to poor intrinsic stability. To investigate this further, we applied a novel approach for stabilizing a poorly expressing anti-tetanus toxoid human Fab with a predisposition for being mi...