VHH Antibody Expression Service

VHH antibodies, also known as nanobodies, are derived from the variable domain of heavy-chain-only antibodies found in camelids. With a molecular weight of only 13–15 kDa, they are characterized by their small size, excellent stability, high solubility, and superior tissue penetrability. These unique properties have enabled their widespread application across diverse fields, including biosensing, affinity capture, protein crystallization, molecular imaging, and disease diagnosis and therapy.

KMD Bioscience leverages its established phage display technology platform to offer comprehensive end-to-end solutions covering antibody library construction, directed screening, recombinant expression, and large-scale purification. For high-affinity VHH antibody development, we perform alpaca immunization with customer-specified antigens, isolate peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) to obtain antibody gene repertoires, and amplify the full set of VHH variable-region gene sequences via reverse transcription and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). These genes are then cloned into phage display vectors to generate VHH antibody libraries with ample capacity and excellent diversity. Through multiple rounds of biopanning and enrichment, we efficiently obtain VHH antibodies that specifically bind to the target antigens, which are widely applicable in fields such as in vitro diagnostics and therapeutic antibody development.

In addition, we maintain ready-to-use native VHH antibody libraries that eliminate the need for animal immunization, significantly shortening the turnaround time for VHH antibody production to meet rapid R&D demands. We also support custom construction of fully synthetic and semi-synthetic VHH antibody libraries, catering to diverse applications including antibody directed evolution and functional engineering.

We can also prepare soluble proteins using the E. coli prokaryotic expression system, which optimizes protein expression conditions to avoid inclusion body expression of proteins and ensure protein activity. KMD Bioscience also has a proven baculovirus/insect cell protein expression system for the production and expression of viral recombinant proteins from baculovirus-infected insect cells. This expression system facilitates protein solubility and post-translational modifications. Also, the baculovirus/insect cell expression system allows for the simultaneous expression of multiple genes and can produce higher yields of intracellular and secreted proteins. Our protein expression platform can be used for VHH small-scale and large-scale production to meet the different needs of our customers. We will meet customers' requirements in all aspects and provide integrated services of VHH screening, expression and purification. We will characterize and functionally identify VHH according to customers' needs and ensure the quality of VHH preparation.

KMD Bioscience maintains a comprehensive recombinant antibody expression platform capable of matching multiple protein expression systems to meet customized VHH production requirements, covering scales from bench‑top trials to industrial‑scale manufacturing. Among these, our mammalian expression system leverages HEK293 and CHO cell lines for both transient and stable expression of VHH antibodies, enabling post‑translational modifications such as glycosylation, phosphorylation, and acetylation to yield products that closely resemble native proteins in structure and function.

Our workflow involves transfecting recombinant expression plasmids carrying VHH‑encoding sequences into mammalian cell lines, followed by selection to obtain single‑cell clones. These clones are then subjected to preliminary expression evaluation to identify candidate VHH‑producing strains. During this process, multiple rounds of iterative screening can be applied to further enrich high‑expressing positive cells. Finally, positive monoclonal cells are selected and expanded in large‑scale cultures to achieve mass production of VHH antibodies.

In addition, our prokaryotic E. coli expression system enables soluble protein production through optimization of expression conditions, effectively preventing inclusion body formation and ensuring the biological activity of the target protein. Meanwhile, our well‑established baculovirus/insect cell expression system combines the advantages of high protein solubility and the capacity for post‑translational modifications, while also supporting multi‑gene co‑expression and achieving high yields for both intracellular and secreted proteins. KMD Bioscience offers integrated services encompassing VHH expression, purification, and screening, complemented by comprehensive protein characterization and functional validation—all aimed at facilitating the translation of research discoveries into real‑world applications.

--VHH can be expressed by mammalian cells with large protein yield and good activity

--VHH can be expressed in large quantities by E. coli system.

--VHH antibody can be used for in vivo and in vitro functional research and verification.

--Can be humanized to VHH

--Synthetic and semi-synthetic VHH can be expressed

--Provides integrated services of VHH screening, expression and purification

--A variety of protein expression systems and cell lines are available.