Monoclonal antibodies

• What are monoclonal antibodies

  • Antibodies that are clones from one parent cell
  • specific to one type of antigen
• Describe how monoclonal antibodies are produced

  1. Specific antigen injected into an animal (mouse)
  2. B-lymphocytes producing complementary antibodies extracted
  3. B-lymphocytes fuse with myeloma cells to form hybridoma cells- these cells can divide and produce antibodies
  4. hybridoma cells cultured
  5. monoclonal antibodies collected and purified
• Outline the uses of monoclonal antibodies

  • Detection of pathogens
  • Location of cancer cells and blood clots
  • treatment of cancer
  • used in pregnancy test kits
• What are myeloma cells

  Type of tumour cell
• What do pregnancy kits test for

  HCG in urine
• What does a pregnancy test consist of

  A stick containing monoclonal antibodies (mabs) specific to hcg:

  • Mabs attached to a blue bad (free to move)
  • mabs fixed to the test stick
• Describe what happens to the test stick if a woman is pregnant

  • HCG in urine binds to mabs attached to a blue bead
  • mabs with HCG diffuse up dipstick
  • mabs fixed to the stick bind to HCG
  • blue line forms
• Describe what happens to the test stick if a woman is not pregnant

  No HCG in urine so a blue line is not formed
• What’s the advantage of using monoclonal antibodies to test for pathogens

  • Specific to one particular antigen
  • very accurate
  • quick results
• Why can monoclonal antibodies be used to target cancer cells

  • Cancer cells have specific antigens called tumour markers on their membranes
  • mabs are specific to one type of antigen so can be targeted to tumour makers without damaging other cells
• Describe how monoclonal antibodies can be used to diagnose cancer

  • Mabs targeted to a radioactive substance
  • mabs injected into the patients blood stream
  • mabs bind to tumour markers on cancer cells
  • emitted radiation is detected using a specialised scanner enabling doctors to determine the location of cancer cells
• How can monoclonal antibodies be used to target drugs to cancer cells

  • Mabs attached to an ant cancer drug
  • mabs injected into the patients blood stream
  • mabs bind to tumour markers on cancer cells
  • anti cancer drug destroys cancer cells
• Why are cancer treatments that use monoclonal antibodies favoured over traditional treatments

  • Radio therapy and chemo therapy target rapidly dividing cells
  • healthy cells are damaged as a consequence producing unpleasant side effects
  • mabs only target cancer cells reducing damage to normal cells
• How can monoclonal antibodies be used to locate blood clots

  • Mabs tagged to a radioactive substance
  • mabs target and bind to specific proteins in blood clots
  • radiation emitted by mabs is detected enabling the location of blood clots to be identified