Building ferret antibody libraries with phage display technology is a highly promising field of biomedical research. Ferrets are a well-established animal model for many human respiratory viral infections, including influenza and Ebola viruses. One of the most common limitations in studying cellular immune responses in this animal model has been the lack of immunological reagents. On the other hand, phage display is a widely used technology for antibody discovery and engineering. This approach allows for the selection of antibodies against virtually any type of antigen. Creative Biolabs offers specialized services for building antibody libraries with phage display technology, a proven approach for generating a large and diverse set of monoclonal antibodies with high specificity and affinity. Our service is a comprehensive and customizable solution that can produce high-quality antibodies against even the most challenging targets.
Ferrets (Mustela putorius furo) are increasingly being used as an animal model in biomedical research, particularly in the field of respiratory and infectious disease research. Ferrets' immune system is relatively similar to that of humans, and this characteristic makes them a species of choice for antibody development. One of the major challenges in building ferret antibodies is using the standard hybridoma method. Ferret phage display libraries are a way to address this issue and to be able to rapidly identify high-affinity antibodies within a shorter period. Creative Biolabs' phage display service uses ferret-derived antibody libraries to generate antibodies against targets of interest. The use of ferret antibodies generated through phage display has the potential to target rare, conserved, or weakly immunogenic epitopes.
The availability of ferret antibody libraries is of great importance in the study of immune responses, especially in disease models such as influenza and Ebola. Ferret antibody libraries offer the antibodies that can target the ferret-specific molecules of the immune system to help with the analysis of cellular immunity. Antibodies that target immune cells' surface markers and signaling proteins or transcription factors play a crucial role in the study of immune system activation during ferret influenza infection models. Furthermore, these antibodies can also be cross-reactive against human antigens, and if so, can be used for the development of novel antibodies as therapeutics. The immunological similarities between ferrets and humans allow researchers to produce antibodies against unexplored targets to develop potential human disease treatments.
Phage display is a form of gene recombination expression technology. The approach involves the fusion of the gene that encodes the antibody fragment of interest, such as Fab, scFv, or single-domain antibodies, to the gene of a phage coat protein. As a result, when the phage is produced, the antibody fragment is displayed on the surface of the phage particle. A large library of phages, each displaying a different antibody due to the different antibody-encoding genes, can be constructed, thus representing an extensive antibody repertoire. The phages that display antibodies with a high affinity to a particular antigen of interest can be selected from the library in a process called panning. Panning typically involves incubating the phage library with the antigen, washing out the phages that do not bind, and then eluting the bound phages. These eluted phages can then be amplified and used in further rounds of panning to enrich the pool for high-affinity binders.
In order to construct a ferret antibody phage library, we isolate the antibody genes from ferret spleen cells or lymphocytes. These cells are previously immunized with your antigen of interest. The antibody genes are then cloned into a phage vector and expressed on the surface of bacteriophages. Each phage particle would now display a unique antibody or peptide on its surface, creating a library that can be screened for binding to specific targets.
Once the phage library has been constructed, the biopanning process can begin. Biopanning is a multi-round screening process in which the phage particles that bind to the target antigen are isolated.
After successful panning, the binding affinity and specificity of the selected antibodies are analyzed. We further characterize the antibody to confirm the binding activity and determine the best candidates for further development.
The ferret is a popular model for studying influenza since it has been an effective tool for studies that have enabled numerous discoveries. Creating a library of ferret antibodies would enable us to perform detailed examinations of antibody function following ferret infection or immunization against influenza. For instance, the scientists were able to develop a mathematical model that accurately represents the early antibody dynamics (days to weeks) after influenza infection or vaccination. They also calibrated this mathematical model to the hemagglutination inhibition (HI) titer measured in ferrets. The researchers found that there are quantifiable differences in the degree of enhancement of homologous and cross-reactive antibodies caused by different modes of exposure (e.g. infection, adjuvant vaccination, and non-adjuvant vaccination). It was also noted that the order of exposure also significantly affects the antibody response. For example, priming with A/H3N2 could boost a subsequent vaccine response. This modeling research would provide a better understanding of how the immune system functions against the flu and create a foundation for the development of better vaccines and improved prevention and control strategies.
Fig.1 Ferret antibody dynamics: infection vs. vaccination.1
The process of building ferret antibody libraries through phage display is not a simple task. It is, however, a very promising one, with a lot of potential in better understanding ferret-based disease models, developing therapeutics, and advancing immunological research. Creative Biolabs combines state-of-the-art phage display technology with years of experience in the fields of library construction and screening. Our services are designed to fit the needs of both academic and industry researchers and are always guaranteed to be fast, reliable, and cost-effective. If you want to know more about our ferret antibody library construction by phage display service, please do not hesitate to or now.
Q: Why use ferret antibody libraries for my project?
A: Ferrets model human respiratory pathogens well, so their B-cell repertoires capture clinically relevant epitopes. A ferret phage library lets us mine that diversity at scale to find binders against conserved, glycan-shielded, or weakly immunogenic targets. You get species-matched reagents for pathogenesis studies and candidates that can translate through cross-reactivity and downstream engineering.
Q: What library types and formats do you offer?
A: We build immune, naïve, semi-synthetic, and synthetic libraries in scFv or Fab formats, with rapid reformatting to full-length IgG for functional testing. Library design is target-driven—CDR diversification, framework selection, and negative selection points are customized to your antigen class (soluble, membrane, multimeric, or highly conserved).
Q: Can you work without immunization material?
A: Yes. For naïve or semi-synthetic libraries, we source ferret B-cell RNA (or use established scaffolds) and build repertoires de novo. You can also provide PBMCs (≥5–50 million recommended) or total RNA. We then tailor CDR diversification and apply target-class-specific panning to compensate for the absence of affinity maturation.
Q: What downstream services can you bundle?
A: We offer affinity maturation (error-prone, chain shuffling, CDR-targeted), epitope binning/mapping, kinetics by BLI/SPR, cell-based potency assays, humanization and IgG subclass/Fc engineering, and manufacturability screens (expression, stability, aggregation).
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Please kindly note that our services can only be used to support research purposes (Not for clinical use).
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