Comparison of the Fv fragments of different phosphorylcholine binding antibodies expressed in Escherichia coli.

The development of general methods to express functional antibody fragments in E. coli greatly facilitates the engineering of antibodies. Some of the essential features of the technology are summarized. As a model system, phosphorylcholine binding antibodies are used. The immune response against this antigen results in three classes of antibodies, exemplified by the myeloma proteins McPC603, TEPC15, and MOPC167. Fv fragments of these antibodies can now be conveniently prepared in E. coli to aid in understanding the structural logic of this well-characterized immune response.