15 monoclonal antibodies

define monoclonal antibody

a single type of antibody that can be isolated and cloned

what are monoclonal antibodies produced from? and what does that mean for them?

produced from a single group of genetically identical b cells (plasma cells). this means they’re all identical in structure

what can monoclonal antibodies be used for?

• medical treatment

• medical diagnosis

• pregnancy tests

how can some cancer be treated using direct monoclonal antibody therapy?

• some monoclonal antibodies are designed with a binding site complementary in shape to the antigens on the outside of cancer cells

• the antibodies are given to the patient and attach to the cancer cells

• while the antibodies are bound to the cancer antigens, this prevents chemicals binding to the cancer cells which enable uncontrolled cell division

• therefore the monoclonal antibodies prevent the cancer cells growing and as they are designed to only attach to cancer cells they do not cause harm to other cells

what’s the advantage of direct monoclonal antibody therapy compared to other medications?

as the antibodies are complementary in shape only to the antigens on the outside of cancer cells, they will only attach to those cells and won’t affect normal body cells

how can cancer be treated using indirect monoclonal antibody therapy?

monoclonal antibodies complementary in shape to the antigens on the outside of cancer cells which have drugs attached to them can be delivered directly to the cancer cells to kill them. these are often referred to as “bullet drugs”

why’s indirect monoclonal antibody therapy good?

reduces the harmful side effects that traditional chemotherapy and radiotherapy can produce

what can monoclonal antibodies be used to test for?

• pregnancy

• influenza

• hepatitis

• chlamydia

• prostate cancer

how can monoclonal antibodies used to test for things?

via ELISA tests

what does ELISA mean?

enzyme linked immunosorbent assay

in short, how does an ELISA test work?

use of two antibodies:

• first mobile antibody, complementary to the antigen being tested for, and has a coloured dye attached

• a second antibody complementary in shape to the antigen is immobilised in the test

• a third antibody is immobilised and is complementary in shape to the to the first antibody

how is an ELISA test carried out?

• add the test sample from the patient to the base of the beaker

• wash to remove any unbound test sample

• add an antibody complementary in shape to the antigen you are testing the presence of in the test sample

• wash to remove any unbound antibody

• add a second antibody that is complementary in shape to the first antibody and binds to the first. the second antibody has an enzyme attached to it

• the substrate for the enzyme, which is colourless, is added. this substrate produces coloured products in the presence of the enzyme

• the presence of the colour indicates the presence of the antigen in the test sample and the intensity of the colour indicates the quantity present

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what are some ethical issues with monoclonal antibodies?

requires mice to produce the antibodies and tumour cells, which leads to ethical debates as to whether the use of animals is justified to enable the better treatment of cancers in humans to detect disease