Nanobodies as novel agents for disease diagnosis and therapy

Christina G Siontorou Department of Industrial Management and Technology, University of Piraeus, Piraeus, Greece Abstract: The discovery of naturally occurring, heavy-chain only antibodies in Camelidae, and their further development into small recombinant nanobodies, presents attractive alternatives in drug delivery and imaging. Easily expressed in microorganisms and amenable to engineering, nanobody derivatives are soluble, stable, versatile, and have unique refolding capacities, reduced aggregation tendencies, and high-target binding capabilities. This review outlines the current state of the art in nanobodies, focusing on their structural features and properties, production, technology, and the potential for modulating immune functions and for targeting tumors, toxins, and microbes. Keywords: heavy chain antibodies, nanobodies, antibody expression, molecular display, formattin

Stabilized filter-supported bilayer lipid membranes (BLMs) for automated flow monitoring of compounds of clinical, pharmaceutical, environmental and industrial interest

This paper describes the results of analytical applications of electrochemical biosensors based on bilayer lipid membranes (BLMs) Sor the automated rapid and sensitive flow monitoring of substrates of hydrolytic enzymes, antigens and triazine herbicides. BLM’s, composed of mixtures of egg phosphatidylcholine (egg PC) and dipalmitoylphosphatidic acid (DPPA), were supported on ultrafiltration membranes (glass microfibre or polycarbonate) which were found to enhance their stability fos flow experiments. The proteins (enzymes, antibodies) were incorporated into a floating lipid matrix at an air-electrolyte interface, and then a casting procedure was used to deliver the lipid onto the filter supports for BLM formation. Injections of the analyte were made into flowing streams of the carrier electrolyte solution and a current transient signal was obtained with a magnitude related to the analyte concentration. Substrates of hydrolytic enzyme reactions (acetylcholine, urea and penicillin) could be determined at the micromolar level with a maximum rate of 220 samples/h, whereas antigens (thyroxin) and triazine herbicides (simazine, atrazine and propazine) could be monitored at the nanomolar level in less than 2 min. The time of appearance of the transient response obtained for herbicides was increased to the order of simazine, atrazine and propazine which has permitted analysis of these triazines in mixtures