Next to conventional antibodies, alpaca also possess single domain antibodies (sdAbs). In contrast to conventional mammalian IgG antibodies, sdAbs contain only heavy chains and are devoid of light chains. The antigen-binding domain of a single domain antibody is called VHH or Nanobody. VHHs have several general advantages; ChromoTek’s Nanobodies and Nanobody-based research tools, however, have even more advantages: their high level of performance, characterization, and validation.

This single domain contains a complete antigen binding site and is the smallest functional antigen binding fragment (around 15 kDa, only one tenth the size of a conventional antibody).

Origin of Nanobodies and comparison with conventional antibodies

What makes the technology special?

For more than a decade, ChromoTek has generated highly specific and high affinity VHH antibodies for various applications. By combining their proprietary immunization scheme with phage display, ChromoTek are able to create recombinant sdAbs with tailor-made properties. Using this technique, they get the best of both worlds: Highly specific antibodies that have undergone affinity maturation in vivo, but that are produced recombinantly with known sequences and without any batch-to-batch variations. Typically, affinities are in the picomolar to single-digit nanomolar range. Subsequently, the VHH domains can be further engineered or adapted, depending on the requirements of an application.