Mammalian cells expression materials

The first two antibodies our group tried to express in this vector system within mammalian cells had mistakes in the genetic material that coded for variable regions and, consequently, did not express any antibody at all. The first antibody that was produced by recombinant technology at IDEC using this vector system was in early 1991. It was supposed to be a chimeric anti-CD4 antibody, but the antibody secreted by the cells did not bind to CD4. CD4 is a surface molecule on the leukocytes known as T cells. A primatized antibody (a chimeric antibody where the variable domains are isolated from a cynomol-gus monkey see Figure 32.2) to CD4 was produced later that year. That antibody ended up in clinical trials in humans at the same time as Rituxan. 

Plasmid-based strategies have been developed to transfect cells, hopefully with fewer side effects. In contrast to vimses, plasmids did not evolve to transfer genetic material to mammalian cells, and therefore no active mechanisms of cellular uptake and transport to the nucleus exist. In order to increase the efficacy of gene transfer and protein expression, several modes of packing and transfection have been developed. The... 

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