Generation of a potent recombinant homophilic chimeric anti-CD20 antibody.

Previously we increased the potency of therapeutic antibodies in targeting, induction of apoptosis, and growth inhibition in vitro and in vivo by chemically conjugating a homophilic peptide to the antibody. Here, we describe the construction of a chimeric fusion gene derived from the murine anti-CD20 antibody (1F5) variable region, with an engineered homophilic domain at the C-terminus of the human IgG1 sequence. The construct was expressed in CHO suspension cells and purified.