Monoclonal antibodies

• Monoclonal antibodies are antibodies produced by a single clone of cells. They are all identical and specific to a single antigen.
• How do normal antibodies work:

  • Antibodies are produced by white blood cells called B-lymphocytes
  • they bind to active site of antigen
  • This marks the foreign object for destruction
• 4 uses of monoclonal antibodies:

  • diagnosis
  • measure levels of hormones and other chemicals
  • detect pathogens
  • treat diseases
• Main drawback of monoclonal antibodies is that they often create more side effects than expected
• producing monoclonal antibodies:

  • inject animal with the antigen we want the antibodies to bind to
  • let animal develop an immune response
  • isolate some of their B-lymphocytes
  • combine them with fast dividing tumour cells to for hybeidoma cells
  • let these cells divide in a petri dish
  • collect and purify the monoclonal antibodies