
What Are
Monoclonal Antibodies?
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A monoclonal antibody (MAb) is a type of antibody used to
diagnose and treat a variety of medical conditions. Antibodies are essentially
strings of protein molecules released by B-cells (immune cells) that attach to
foreign objects in the body (antigens), allowing other immune cells to detect
and destroy them.
The B-cells in our bodies each manufacture a specific type of antibody, produced
in response to an attack on the immune system. If you were to extract blood from
your own body, the diverse mix of collected antibodies floating in your blood
sample would be termed polyclonal antibodies because they would not all be of
the same type.
The subject of this article concerns monoclonal antibodies, which refer to
antibodies that are identical in structure and function. To synthesise these
useful protein strands, scientists first have to culture a collection of the
desired antibody-producing B-cells, through cloning a parent cell or maintaining
a cell line. Once this has been achieved, a laboratory can then use these cells
to synthesise the antibodies needed for use in medicine.
How do Monoclonal Antibodies Work?
Monoclonal antibodies have a specific structure that complements the shape of
their targeted antigen, analogous to a lock-and-key mechanism. Antigens are
found on the outer surface of harmful agents (bacteria, viruses, cancer cells,
etc.) and are used to communicate with their surrounding environment and
transport substances in and out of a cell.
During an immune response, antibodies produced by B-cells will attach to the
surface of a harmful agent, allowing the immune system to recognise and destroy
the agent or neutralise it. When monoclonal antibodies are used to neutralise or
remove specific substances, they will attach to one type of surface protein,
allowing scientists to utilise them for purification or detection methods.
Knowing exactly what sort of cells a batch of monoclonal antibodies will target
is incredibly useful in medicine, because it allows researchers and doctors to
indirectly detect the presence of certain proteins when a positive reaction
takes place. HIV detection is one of the most notable benefits offered by
monoclonal antibodies.
How Effective are Monoclonal Antibodies?
In terms of medical applications, monoclonal antibodies are effective in a range
of specialities. For diagnostics, these proteins are often used to detect
particular substances in tissue and blood samples. The Western blot test is a
well known example of this diagnostic effectiveness, using monoclonal antibodies
to definitely identify conditions such as Lyme disease and BSE, as well as the
aforementioned HIV virus.
Another area of medicine that has utilised the benefits of monoclonal antibodies
is therapeutic treatments. As these antibodies can attach themselves to harmful
cells through a variety of mechanisms, they open up the possibility to block
cells from multiplying while stimulating an immune response, thus providing
relief from a condition and a cure in some cases.
Cancer is also a viable target for monoclonal antibodies, as the specific nature
of these proteins allows scientists to develop medicines for stimulating an
immune response to tumour cells and other harmful cancer cells. Currently, there
are a number of FDA approved treatments of this kind on the market, including
medicines that involve transporting radioactive toxins via antibodies directly
to disease-causing cells.
What is the Future for Monoclonal Antibodies?
Treatments are still being developed using monoclonal antibodies today, owing to
their effectiveness at targeting specific proteins while leaving healthy cells
unharmed. In particular, MAbs represent a viable option for use in the
development of new cancer immunotherapy treatments, which aim to improve a
patient's immune system response to fighting cancer. The epidermal growth factor
receptor is one protein molecule researchers in Cuba are targeting with MAbs,
due to the presence of this protein on many types of cancer cells.
MAbs are also constantly being considered as a possibility for treating
degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, which is a medical condition society
is having to increasingly deal with as the average age goes up. The issue of new
epidemics such as avian influenza and the Ebola virus may also require that new
MAb medicines be developed in the future; MAbs were strongly considered as a
treatment for Ebola in 2014, at the height of the African, and potentially
worldwide, epidemic.
Other debilitating conditions such as multiple sclerosis and arthritis are
currently the focus of MAb research efforts, as are common conditions such as
diabetes and persistent migraines.
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