Recombinant Antibodies for Pesticide Immunoanalysis

Standardized immunochemical methods for food analysis and environmental monitoring have profited from the use of monoclonal antibodies. However, this approach is restricted by the length of time required for antibody production to new analytes. The recombinant antibody technology is expected to compensate for these limitations. After a discussion of recombinant antibody state of the art, two approaches are shown based on the herbicidal s-triazines. Single-chain Fvs directed against different s-triazines were expressed as fusion proteins on the surface of M13 phages. In addition, a recombinant Fab for atrazine was produced in the pASK85-based expression system, which exhibited similar binding and displacement kinetics as the original monoclonal antibodies. The feasibility to obtain mutant antibodies may eventually replace the circumstantial approach to obtain new antibodies by new immunizations.