Mining a yeast library for brain endothelial cell-binding antibodies

We describe the use of yeast surface display for the identification of antibodies that bind the plasma membranes of living cells. Yeast panning with a nonimmune human single-chain antibody library identified 34 unique lead antibodies that bind (K(d) = 82 +/- 15 nM) and in some cases internalize into rat brain endothelial cells. In addition, we used a new yeast display immunoprecipitation procedure for initial characterization of the cognate antigens.