F. Rahbarizadeh, M.J. Rasaee, M.F. Moghadam1, A.A. Allameh, S.A. Narang2 and M. Sadeghizadeh3
Department of Clinical Biochemistry, School of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modarres University, Tehran, Iran
1Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modarres University, Tehran, Iran
2Institute for Biological Sciences, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0R6, Canada
3Department of Genetic, Faculty of Sciences, Tarbiat Modarres University, Tehran, Iran
ABSTRACT
Camelidae are known to possess antibodies devoid of light chains and CH1 domains. Antigen-specific fragments of these heavy-chain IgGs (VHH) are of great interest in biotechnology applications. We report here the first example of a successfully raised heavy-chains antibodies in Camelus dromedarius and Camelus bactrianus against the MUC1 peptide. Camels were immunised against cancerous tissue and peptide conjugated to bovine serum albumin. Both conventional and heavy-chain IgG antibodies were produced in response to MUC1- peptide. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) and Western blotting for MUC1 peptide conjugated to BSA, deglycosylated human milk fat globule membrane (HMFG), and cancerous breast tissues were established to investigate the titre development. Three subclasses of IgG of both camels were separated chromatographically. All three subclasses of IgG in both of camels were bound to MUC1 peptide. This study demonstrates specific in vitro targeting of MUC1 peptide by camels heavy-chain antibodies. It may open prospective for their future and practical application as tumor-targeting tools, due to their small size and soluble behaviour.
Key words: Camelus bactrianus, Camelus dromedarius, heavy-chain antibody, immune response, MUC1
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