Cloning and expression in pichia pastoris of a genetically engineered single chain antibody against the rat transferrin receptor

The present investigation describes the construction of a genetically engineered single chain antibody (scFv) against the rat transferrin receptor (OX26), and demonstrates that this scFv antibody can be fully processed and expressed as a soluble secreted molecule in the methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris. Restriction endonuclease sites located at both 5'- and 3'-flanking regions of OX26 coding region in the prokaryote pOPE-OX26 vector were engineered to incorporate yeast compatible restriction endonuclease sites (i.e. EcoRI and SmaI or AvrII). The modified OX26 cDNA was subcloned into the Pichia expression vectors pPIC9 and pHIL-S1. An OX26 scFv high producer clone [GS115 His(+) Mut(+) (pPIC-OX26 SacI)] was isolated and used for large-scale production and characterization. Because the engineered scFv contains both a c-myc tag and a (His)S tail, the OX26 scFv was purified to homogeneity by immobilized metal affinity chromatography. The identity of the OX26 scFv was confirmed by Western blot analyses with both anti c-myc and anti poly His antibodies. Minor immunoreactive bands corresponding to hyperglycosylated and partially processed a-factor leader prosequence were also detected in the purified OX26 scFv, and these contaminants were markedly reduced when the expression of the OX26 scFv was performed in minimal methanol medium buffered with phosphate at pH = 7. The present investigation suggests that this expression system may be useful for the production of anti-receptor single chain antibodies that can be used as brain drug delivery vectors.