Overcome Lack Of Robust B Cell Markers Using Opto's AbD Workflow

Opto® Memory B Discovery on the Beacon® Optofluidic System enables rapid selection of lead molecules by function-forward screening of B cells from immunized animals in under 1 week. While Opto® Plasma B Discovery workflows enable screening of mouse plasma B cells, the Opto Memory B Discovery workflow enables rapid screening of rabbit memory B cells. Rabbits have unique gene diversification strategies that produce antibodies with high affinity and specificity, making rabbit antibodies uniquely valuable reagents for basic research, diagnostics, and therapeutic development. Rabbit polyclonal antibodies are widely used for research applications; however, monoclonal antibodies are often preferred for diagnostic and therapeutic applications due to their well-defined specificity and stability.

Single B cell approaches are an attractive approach for the discovery of rabbit monoclonal antibodies as compared with hybridoma and phage display owing to the low fusion efficiency and loss of cognate heavy/light chain pairing in the latter two approaches, respectively. A central challenge to single B cell screening in rabbits is the lack of robust B cell markers that enable the purification of rabbit plasma B cells. As a result, rabbit B cell screening approaches are typically performed using memory B cells that must be activated to secrete antibodies for screening purposes.