Antibody Light Chains: Key to Increased Monoclonal Antibody Yields in Expi293 Cells?

Antibodies (Basel). 2022 May 18;11(2):37. doi: 10.3390/antib11020037.

Abstract

When constructing isogenic recombinant IgM-IgG pairs, we discovered that μ heavy chains strongly prefer partnering with λ light chains for optimal IgM expression in transiently cotransfected Expi293 cells. When μ chains were paired with κ light chains, IgM yields were low but increased by logs-up to 20,000 X-by using λ chains instead. Switching light chains did not alter epitope specificity. For dimeric IgA2, optimal expression involved pairing with λ chains, whereas light-chain preference varied for other immunoglobulin classes. In summary, recombinant IgM production can be drastically increased by using λ chains, an important finding in the use of IgM for mucosal immunoprophylaxis.

Keywords: lambda light-chain preference; mAb yield; monoclonal antibody; recombinant IgG; recombinant IgM; recombinant dIgA.