Isolation of human colorectal tumour reactive antibodies using phage display technology

Few highly specific anti-colorectal tumour antibodies exist. Here, we describe the isolation of a panel of colorectal tumour reactive antibodies, using bacteriophage-antibody display technology. A whole-cell based panning protocol has been used to isolate antibodies. panning against a cell type related to the colorectal tumour cells was used to remove antibodies reacting with common antigens. The 11 antibodies studied possess different levels of specificity, all bound to protein or glycoprotein molecules, and 2 of them recognised tunicamycin-sensitive epitopes. None of the antibodies recognise the commonly expressed colorectal-markers CEA or EP-CAM. Our work demonstrates the potential of this technology for the development of new anti-tumour reagents.