Assembly of combinatorial antibody libraries on phage surfaces: the gene III site.

A phagemid system was developed for the monovalent display of combinatorial antibody Fab libraries on the surface of filamentous phage M13. Fab fragments were fused to the carboxyl-terminal domain of the gene III protein. Phage displaying Fab fragments on their surface, or Phabs, were enriched by 10(3)- to 10(5)-fold on antigen-coated surfaces over nonspecific phage. The method may replace current antibody cloning techniques.