Research in Medicine

Abstract

Background: Since the development of monoclonal antibodies by hybridoma technology the use of antibodies in targeted therapy has been considered. ScFv (single-chain variable fragment) is a small fragment of monoclonal antibody which binds to its target, especially. The goal of this study, is introducing of scFv, its production pathways as well as its diagnostic and therapeutic applications.

Materials and methods: This study is presented as a review article. All data were extracted from Google Scholar search engine and PubMed site, using keywords; scFv antibody, scFv application, scFv libraries and phage display technology. About 75 articles were selected and investigated completely.

Results: Although specify and affinity of scFv is similar to whole antibody, however, its size is decreased. The size reduction leads to better penetration of scFv into tissues and access to the antigens. The size reduction, also facilitates the manipulation of antibody and the conjugation different drug compounds and diagnostic nanoparticles to it. Therefore, scFvs have been used in researches, successfully.

Conclusion: ScFv is one of the most widely used antibodies. According to its important advantages in comparison with full monoclonal antibodies and also, their large scale and low cost production capability, it is proposed that further researches must be performed about their treatment and diagnostic applications.