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Updated: Jan 21, 2026

Genetic Encoding of a Non-Canonical Amino Acid for the Generation of Antibody-Drug Conjugates Through a Fast Bioorthogonal Reaction
Published on: September 14, 2018
Engineering Dual Variable Domains for the Generation of Site-Specific Antibody-Drug Conjugates
Alex R Nanna1,2, Christoph Rader3
1Department of Immunology and Microbiology, The Scripps Research Institute, Jupiter, FL, USA.
Abstract:
Site-specific antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) technologies are highly desirable for the production of therapeutics with well-defined biochemical and pharmacological characteristics. We have developed a strategy to produce site-specific ADCs using a highly reactive lysine residue embedded in a dual-variable-domain (DVD) format. Here we provide protocols for the engineering, expression, and purification of the DVDs used for this strategy. We also provide a protocol for DVD-drug conjugation and describe methods for their biochemical characterization, including a catalytic assay to monitor conjugation efficiency.
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