Does Antibody Size Matter? 6/9/2014

 

nAb vs. Traditional Antibodies, a Visualization

nAb vs. traditional antibody

When we tell people about our nano-antibodies, it always leads to one question:

Why llamas?

It’s a fair question. Llamas aren’t the natural choice when it comes to antibody generation. Mice, rats and rabbits generally top the list. However the advantage with llamas is that these animals naturally produce single domain heavy chain antibodies. These antibodies are one tenth the size of a traditional antibody, which is a very significant difference. This characteristic can be most appreciated in an illustration. The image shows the incredible size difference between a VHH nano-antibody (left) and a traditional antibody (right).

So what does this size difference translate to? It means nAb can access antigenic sites that are restricted to bulkier traditional antibodies. In addition, nano-antibodies can rapidly penetrate tissue and pass through many barriers that would restrict traditional antibodies. All of this can be achieved without sacrificing affinity, making nAb one of a kind.

The next time someone asks you, “Does antibody size really matter?” show this proof and there will be no questions that nAb is the clear choice.