antibodies

• How do antibodies work?

  • Specific antibodies bind to the complementary shaped antigen on pathogens.
  • The binding destroys the pathogens by causing bursting/clumping them together for them to be more quickly destroyed by phagocytes.
• How do antitoxins work?

  • They neutralise toxins by binding to them.
  • Can only bind to toxins with a complementary shape.
• How are monoclonal antibodies produced?

  • The antigen is isolated.
  • Inject the antigen into a mouse.
  • This stimulates lymphocytes to produce the specific antibody to the antigen.
  • This lymphocyte is then combined with a tumour cell - which creates a hybridoma cell - which can divide and make antibodies.
  • A hybridoma which can make a monoclonal antibody specific to the antibody is selected and then cloned to produce several identical cells that can make the same antibody.
  • A large amount of the antibody is collected and purified.
• How can monoclonal antibodies be used?

  • Treating communicable diseases.
  • Treating cancers.
  • Visualising cells in tissues or structures in cells.
  • Detecting the presence of a specific chemical/pathogen.
• How do monoclonal antibodies treat communicable diseases?

  • Increases phagocytosis of a particular pathogen by binding complementary to its antigen.
• How do monoclonal antibodies treat cancers?

  • They can bind to a radioactive substance/toxic drug/chemical that stops cells from dividing.
  • It then delivers the substance to the cancer cells without harming other cells in the body as it only binds to the target antigen on the cancer cells.
• How do monoclonal antibodies visualise cells in tissues/cell structures?

  • You can bind the fluorescent dye to the monoclonal antibody.
  • Then put the fluorescent monoclonal antibodies on the slide of the sample and rinse.
  • The specific structure will show up under the microscope.
• How do monoclonal antibodies detect the presence of specific chemicals/pathogens?

  • They can diagnose pregnancy
  • Measure hormone levels
  • Measure blood chemical levels