Monoclonal Antibodies

• 1. Antibodies are produced by B-lymphocytes (A type of white blood cell)
  2. monoclonal antibodies are produced from lots of clones. they all target one specific antigen
  3. lymphocytes don't divide very easily
  4. tumour cells however can divide lots and are very easy to grow
  5. fuse a lymphocyte to a tumour cell to produce a hybridoma
  6. hybridomas clone (monoclonal antibodies)
• • Pregnant women have a hormone called HCG in their urine
  • the stick you wee on has antibodies to the hormone with blue beads on it
  • The test strip has more antibodies to the hormone stuck to it
  • if your pregnant:
  • the hormone binds to the antibodies on the blue beads
  • the urine moves up the stick carrying the hormone and blue beads up the stick
  • the beads and hormone move up the stick and bind the the antibodies. the blue beads get stuck turning it blue
• 1. Cancer cells have antigens on their cell membrane that aren't on normal body cells. they're called tumour markers
  2. In the lab, you can make monoclonal antibodies to bind to these tumour markers
  3. An anti-cancer drug can be attached to these monoclonal antibodies. this might be a radioactive substance, toxic drug or chemical which stops the cancer cells from growing or dividing.
  4. These antibodies are given to patients through a drip
  5. they only target the cancer cells, killing them without harming body cells
• In a lab monoclonal antibodies can be used to bind to hormones and other chemicals in blood to measure their levels
• In a lab monoclonal antibodies can be used to test blood samples for certain pathogens
• In a lab monoclonal antibodies can be used to locate a specific molecule on a cell or tissue:

  1. monoclonal antibodies are made to bind to a specific molecule you're looking for
  2. They're then bound to fluorescent dye
  3. if the molecules your are trying to locate are present they will attach to the antibodies, detected using the dye.
• Advantages:

  They don't harm regular body cells like other treatments i.e chemotherapy and radiotherapy. the side effects of antibodies drugs are lower and less harmful

  Disadvantages:

  Monoclonal antibodies can cause vomiting, fever and low blood pressure meaning they are not as widely used as expected.