Means and methods for producing high affinity antibodies

1. A method for producing high affinity antibodies specific for an antigen of interest, the method comprising the steps of:

a) selecting a B-cell able to produce antibody specific for said antigen of interest or selecting a B-cell able to differentiate into a B-cell that is able to produce antibody specific for said antigen of interest;

b) inducing, enhancing and/or maintaining expression of BCL6 in said B-cell;

c) inducing, enhancing and/or maintaining expression of an anti-apoptotic nucleic acid in said B-cell;

d) allowing expansion of said B-cells into a first population of B-cells;

e) performing antigen staining and BCR staining of B-cells from said first population;

f) selecting a B-cell that has a high antigen affinity;

g) allowing expansion of said B-cell into a second population of B-cells;

h) measuring the antigen association rate and dissociation rate of antibodies produced by at least one B-cell from said second population; and

i) selecting an antibody with an affinity for said antigen of interest that is higher than the average affinity of said first population of B-cells for said antigen of interest.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising, following step g), repeating steps e), f) and g) at least once.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said at least one B-cell is cultured for at least four weeks.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said B-cell selected in step a) is a memory B-cell.

5. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said anti-apoptotic nucleic acid comprises a gene encoding an anti-apoptotic molecule.

6. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising: providing said B-cell with a growth factor.

7. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising: directly or indirectly controlling the amount of BLIMP1 expression product in said B-cell selected in step a).

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said B-cell selected in step a) originates from an individual that had been previously exposed to said antigen of interest.

9. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising: expressing a gene derived of said at least one B-cell encoding the Ig heavy chain and/or Ig light chain in a second cell.

10. The method according to claim 5 , wherein said B-cell selected in step a) is a human memory B-cell.

11. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the anti-apoptotic nucleic acid comprises a gene encoding an anti-apoptotic molecule of the BCL2 family.

12. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the anti-apoptotic nucleic acid comprises a gene encoding Bcl-xL or a functional part thereof.

13. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the anti-apoptotic nucleic acid comprises a gene encoding Mcl-1, or a functional part thereof.

14. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the growth factor is IL21.

15. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the growth factor is CD40L.

16. A method for producing high affinity antibodies specific for an antigen of interest, the method comprising the steps of:

a) selecting a B-cell able to produce antibody specific for the antigen of interest or selecting a B-cell able to differentiate into a B-cell that is able to produce antibody specific for the antigen of interest, wherein the B-cell is a human memory B-cell that originates from an individual who has previously been exposed to the antigen of interest;

b) inducing, enhancing and/or maintaining expression of BCL6 in the selected B-cell;

c) inducing, enhancing and/or maintaining expression of an anti-apoptotic nucleic acid in the B-cell, wherein the anti-apoptotic nucleic acid comprises a gene encoding an anti-apoptotic molecule of the BCL2 family;

d) allowing expansion of said B-cells into a first population of B-cells;

e) performing antigen staining and BCR staining of B-cells from said first population;

f) selecting a B-cell that has a high antigen affinity;

g) allowing expansion of the B-cell into a second population of B-cells;

h) measuring the antigen association rate and dissociation rate of antibodies produced by at least one B-cell from the second population; and

i) selecting an antibody that has a high antigen affinity.

17. A method for producing low affinity antibodies specific for an antigen of interest comprising:

a) selecting a B-cell capable of producing antibody specific for said antigen of interest or selecting a B-cell capable of differentiating into a B-cell which is capable of producing antibody specific for said antigen of interest;

b) inducing, enhancing and/or maintaining expression of BCL6 in said B-cell;

c) inducing, enhancing and/or maintaining expression of an anti-apoptotic nucleic acid in said B-cell;

d) allowing expansion of said B-cells into a first population of B-cells;

e) performing antigen staining and BCR staining of B-cells from said first population;

f) selecting a B-cell that has a low antigen affinity;

g) allowing expansion of said selected B-cell into a second population of B-cells;

h) measuring the antigen association rate and dissociation rate of antibodies produced by at least one B-cell from said second population; and

i) selecting an antibody with an affinity for said antigen of interest that is lower than the average affinity of said first population of B-cells for said antigen of interest.

18. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said antigen association rate and dissociation rate in step h) is measured using surface plasmon resonance (SPR).