Specific features of a scaffolding antibody light chain

The antigen-binding sites in conventional antibodies are formed by hypervariable complementarity-determining regions (CDRs) from both heavy chains (HCs) and light chains (LCs). A deviation from this paradigm is found in a subset of bovine antibodies that bind antigens via an ultra-long CDR. The HCs bearing ultra-long CDRs pair with a restricted set of highly conserved LCs that convey stability to the antibody. Despite the importance of these LCs, their specific features remained unknown. Here, we show that the conserved bovine LC found in antibodies with ultra-long CDRs exhibits a distinct combination of favorable physicochemical properties such as good secretion from mammalian cells, strong dimerization, high stability, and resistance to aggregation. These physicochemical traits of the LCs arise from a combination of the specific sequences in the germline CDRs and a lambda LC framework. In addition to understanding the molecular architecture of antibodies with ultra-long CDRs, our findings reveal fundamental insights into LC characteristics that can guide the design of antibodies with improved properties.