In our experience at Creative Biolabs, sheep (Ovis aries) are increasingly recognized as valuable hosts for monoclonal antibody development. We see their distinct advantages–robust immune responses, the capacity for large-scale serum production, and high epitope diversity–making them a compelling alternative to traditional models like mice and rabbits. Sheep naturally produce large serum volumes. This is highly beneficial, enabling researchers to obtain significant antibody quantities from a single animal, significantly reducing the variability seen when pooling samples from multiple individuals. Furthermore, sheep possess especially sensitive immune systems that can recognize a wider range of epitopes, even those within highly conserved protein regions. Leveraging our expertise, Creative Biolabs specializes in generating high-quality monoclonal antibodies from diverse animal species, and we actively focus on harnessing the potential of sheep as a key species for antibody discovery. Our application of advanced phage display technology for antibody production allows us to provide clients with access to an extensive and diverse repertoire of high-affinity antibodies derived from these animals.
Creative Biolabs chooses sheep immunizations for a reason: their unique biology excels at generating broad and high-affinity antibody repertoires. Our platform leverages how effectively sheep produce antibodies to difficult, conserved mammalian proteins or poorly immunogenic targets—areas where rodent responses often fall short. The inherently high serum yield also streamlines downstream scale-up for our clients, significantly reducing batch-to-batch and animal-to-animal variability in production.
| Sheep Antibody Library Construction | Mouse Antibody Library Construction | Rabbit Antibody Library Construction | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serum volume per animal | 200–300 mL | 1–2 mL | 10–15 mL |
| Epitope diversity | Broad (especially against conserved antigens) | Moderate | High |
| Antibody affinity (post-panning) | Often >10⁻⁹ M | ~10⁻⁷–10⁻⁹ M | ~10⁻⁸ M |
| Cross-reactivity | Low | Moderate to high | Moderate |
| Scalability | High | Moderate | Moderate |
Phage display involves the presentation of antibody fragments on the surface of filamentous bacteriophages. Each phage particle carries the genetic information encoding its displayed antibody, creating a direct link between genotype and phenotype. Key phage display elements include:
Fig.1 The process of phage display.1
At Creative Biolabs, here's how we build high-quality sheep antibody libraries. This integrated approach ensures we deliver functionally diverse, high-performance libraries tailored to your targets.
We extract total RNA from immunized lymphoid tissues, prioritizing mRNA integrity that is critical for downstream amplification. cDNA is obtained via reverse transcription.
Since sheep Ig genes differ from mice, we optimize degenerate/species-specific primers to PCR-amplify VH and VL regions precisely.
We assemble VH/VL chains into scFv or Fab formats, then clone them into phagemid vectors. These get transformed into E. coli strains ready for phage rescue.
Using helper phages (like M13KO7), we rescue antibody-displaying phage particles. Our quality checks include:
We perform 3–5 rounds of panning under increasing stringency to isolate antigen-specific clones. Potential hits undergo phage ELISA screening before soluble expression.
Validated sheep antibodies can be enhanced through:
Sheep-derived antibodies obtained via phage display have broad translational and industrial applications:
At Creative Biolabs, we bring years of expertise in phage display technology and antibody engineering. Our sheep antibody library construction service has several key advantages:
At Creative Biolabs, we're your dedicated partner for building custom sheep antibody libraries. Our teams bring deep expertise in phage display technology and a proven track record in antibody discovery. We focus on delivering rigorously validated, high-performance antibodies to accelerate your research and therapeutic development, delivering fully customizable solutions to meet your project's specific requirements. Ready to leverage tailored sheep antibodies for your target? Contact our team today to discuss how we can move your project forward. Let's accelerate your discovery timeline together.
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Please kindly note that our services can only be used to support research purposes (Not for clinical use).
Creative Biolabs is a globally recognized phage company. Creative Biolabs is committed to providing researchers with the most reliable service and the most competitive price.
