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Polyclonal Preparations of Anti-Tetanus Toxoid Antibodies Derived from a Combinatorial Library Confer Protection

Abstract

We have compared the in vivo therapeutic potential of anti-tetanus toxin (TT) human Fab antibodies derived from a combinatorial phage display library to established polyclonal and monoclonal reagents. The oligoclonality and fine specificity distribution of the synthetic anti-TT Fab preparations was comparable to the antibody spectrum present in the donor serum and the affinities determined for the synthetic phage-bound Fab (Phab) and soluble Fab were in the same range as their monoclonal and polyclonal counterparts. On a weight basis, the protective capacity of the new oligoclonal preparations in vivo (16.4 IU/100 μg Fab) was comparable to those of the best combinations of hybridoma derived human monoclonal antibodies, and far better than those exhibited by the polyclonal serum antibodies of the donor (0.29 IU/100 μg IgG) or by a standard commercial human tetanus immunoglobulin preparation. These data suggest that recombinant antibodies may become a safe and effective alternative to human plasma-derived immunoglobulins for passive immunization.

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Lang, A., Vogel, M., Viret, JF. et al. Polyclonal Preparations of Anti-Tetanus Toxoid Antibodies Derived from a Combinatorial Library Confer Protection. Nat Biotechnol 13, 683–685 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0795-683

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