Recombinant antibody fragments as autoantibody antagonists

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a common inflammatory and demyelinating disorder of the CNS, which can lead to chronic disability. The age of onset of MS is between 20 and 40 years, it affects up to 2 million people worldwide and as yet there is no absolute therapy. Although the aetiological agent of the disease is unknown, disease progression is thought to be immune-mediated in which myelin-reactive antibodies and T cells synergise to induce myelin damage. To date, many therapies have targeted autoreactive T cells in attempt to inhibit disease, although few have addressed the issue of myelin-reactive antibodies. In this patent, The Regents of the University of California present a novel strategy using the immunoglobulin complementarity determining region (CDR3) sequences (recombinant F(ab) fragments) derived from combinatorial phage libraries, which inhibit the activity of autoantibodies, specifically those directed to the candidate autoantigen, myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG).

• autoantibodies
• demyelination
• multiple sclerosis (MS)
• myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)
• phage display libraries
• therapy