Single B cell technologies for monoclonal antibody discovery

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are among the most important type of biologic drugs on the pharmaceutical market, as well as for diagnostic purposes. Presently, more than 100 mAbs have been approved by the US FDA against a variety of diseases such as cancer, infectious diseases, autoimmune diseases, and neurological disorders. Primary antigen-specific B cells are the main source for obtaining antigen-specific mAb sequences, particularly using human specimens such as peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Also, the humanization of mAbs derived from other species (e.g. mice, rats, and rabbits) has become easier and more efficient. Currently, single B cell screening systems bear multiple advantages over other systems, such as display technologies. Particularly, the in vivo development of mAbs favors the safety profile and the overall developability. It also has reduced off-target binding to the human proteome. Single B cell technologies have significantly evolved, becoming faster and higher throughput than before. Nonetheless, hybridoma technology, the first technique in this field, still represents an important methodology and is well known within the scientific community. At present no gold standard exists in the field, relying on a broad variety of different single B cell systems for mAb discovery – each with its advantages and disadvantages.ISSN:1471-490