| abstract |
The invention describes methods for the production of anti-antigen antibodies and antibody fragments which are antibodies or fragments of a particular species of mammal which bind to the self-antigens of said species. Said methods comprise the constitution of reproducible genetic display groups (rgdps), such as a filamentous phage, each rgdp displaying on its surface an element of a specific binding pair which is an antibody or an antibody fragment and each rgdp containing a nucleic acid sequence derived from a mammalian species. Said nucleic acid sequence of each rgdp encodes a chain of polypeptides which is a constituent part of the sbp element displayed on the surface of said rgdp. Fragments of anti-autoantigen antibodies are selected by means of attachment with an autoantigen from said mammalian species. The antibody fragments displayed can be scFv, Fd, Fab or any other fragment having an antigen binding characteristic. The nucleic acid libraries used can be derived from a rearranged sequence of V genes from a non-immunized mammal. The invention describes synthetic or artificial banks which prove to be effective. |