*Monoclonal antibodies*
Cards (7)
- Monoclonal antibodies - antibodies produced from a single clone of cells that are specific to a particular antigen
- Uses of monoclonal antibodies:
- Cancer treatment
- Locating specific molecule in research
- Measuring levels of substances in blood or urine
- Pregnancy tests
- How pregnancy tests work:
- When an individual urinates on the fist section, if hCG is present it binds to the mobile antibodies, which have blue dye attached to them
- They are then carried to the second section
- The stationary antibodies then bind the hCG and antibodies to itself
- As they are bound a blue line will appear
- Then the rest of the hCG and antibody complexes are carried to the control site to show that the test works
- How monoclonal antibodies are used to deliver cancer treatment:
- Monoclonal antibody is made to bind to the tumour markers
- Treatment (drug/radioactive substance or chemical) to stop the cells from dividing is attached to antibody
- Antibody then binds to tumour markers and the treatment is released and delivered to cancer cells, while normal cells are left unharmed.
- Advantages of using monoclonal antibodies:
- they only bind to specific cells, meaning healthy cells are left unharmed
- can be changed to treat different conditions
- we can produce mouse-human hybrid cells to reduce chances of triggering immune responce
- Disadvantages of using monoclonal antibodies:
- it's difficult to attach drugs to the antibodies
- expensive to develop
- as mice lymphocytes are used, they often trigger an immune responce
- How to produce monoclonal antibodies:
- Mouse is injected with pathogen
- The mouse will naturally produce lymphocytes
- Spleen is removed and B-lymphocytes are extracted
- Then the lymphocytes is fused with a myeloma tumour cell, to create a hybridoma
- The hybridoma is left to clone itself and produce a large number of antibodies
- Finally, the antibodies are collected and purified, and checked that the correct antibody was made