Monoclonal antibodies

2. MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES: 2.1. What are Monoclonal Antibodies? 2.1.1. “Clones” A clone is a group (family) of cells which come from a single parent cell that divides various times and are identical in all ways. In their structure, metabolic characteristics, functions, etc. 2.1.2. “Antibodies” An antibody is a protein which is produced by the human body’s immune system when it detects a substance that may be harmful (antigens like: bacteria, viruses, chemicals, parasites, etc). Antibodies are sometimes produced when the immune system mistakenly considers a healthy tissue, as a dangerous one, and creates antibodies against it. This is called an “autoimmune disorder”. [8] 2.1.3. “Antigens” An antigen can be any foreign substance capable…

Omalizumab, more commonly known by the trade name Xolair, is a monoclonal therapeutic antibody that is currently used to treat severe allergic reactions in diseases such as asthma and chronic idiopathic urticaria. The drug is currently produced at a manufacturing site in France through a partnership between Novartis and Genentech (Novartis). In order to produce this antibody, mice were injected with human IgE. The B cells of the mice were then harvested. The B cells were then fused with myeloma…

The structures, antigen binding, and abilities to activate complement are important aspects to understand different drugs relating to autoimmune diseases. Each of the four drugs, infliximab, Adalimumab, Etanercept, and Certilizumab, have different antibody structures, leading to differences in function and binding abilities. The drug infliximab is a chimeric monoclonal antibody, containing 25% mouse-derived and 75% human-derived amino acids. The drug Adalimumab is a fully human monoclonal…

Rituximab, a chimeric human and murine monoclonal antibody, targets the CD20 antigen expressed on pre-B cells and mature B-lymphocytes [55]. The antibody was originally developed for the treatment of B-cell lymphoma [56]. Recently, it has been administered for treating different autoimmune disease. As rituximab is an IgG1 subclass antibody, it crosses the placenta, interfering with fetal and neonatal B cell development and could lead to immune deficiency and raise susceptibility to infections in…

Active Immunity Active immunity is acquired by the production of antibodies (humoral) against antigens, presented by pathogens. This can be categorised as either natural or acquired. The mode of natural methods was by direct contact with the pathogen and enduring the infection, leading to the antibody production by the immune system. This mode of immunity usually takes few days or weeks for initial response however lasts a lifelong. Along with antibody production, a memory of a portion of the…

raised, inflamed, patchy, red skin covered with white scales that is cause by an excess of inflammation and keratinocyte proliferation. There are several drugs in the market to treat the disease like Stelara and Etanercept (table 1) but recent studies have focused on the role of Interleukin – 17A (IL – 17A) to control it due to its high concentration level in affected psoriatic skin. The interleukins are small molecules produced by activated T cells of the immune system and are responsible for…

enhance the migration of leukocytes from the blood to the site of inflammation, and inhibit apoptosis of inflammatory cells (Van Deventer, 1999). This advances the progression of the disease. Clinical studies have shown that there is a positive correlation in the level of TNF-α and disease activity (Papadakis, 2000). Infliximab is a genetically engineered chimeric monoclonal antibody that consists of 75% human immunoglobulin-1 and 25% murine (Guo, 2013). Once administered into the bloodstream by…

tumor to the anaplastic state and expressing the regulator gene c-myc. Both of these indicate a prognosis that when compared to a healthy organism can be deduced that the presence of HLA can promote tumor growth (Smith et al.). In order to point out an important concept, consider breast cancer as opposed to medulloblastoma. In breast cancer, we see that downregulation has negative effects on the organism. On the contrary, when we examine the effects of HLA considering medulloblastoma, we see…

There are many ways of getting sick such as airborne, touching someone. For a long time this is how people have gotten a cold or chicken pox. As medicine is readily available to aid in the recovery of an illness. Viruses can become resistant to medicine just as our bodies could resist to some sicknesses. In the book Biological Terrorism by Steve Goodwin and Randall W. Phillis they present a history of microorganism used to help cure diseases and misused by Medics, and biological warfare. To…

uncapped use of antibiotics, in Human Health and Agriculture. The level of antibiotic6 resistance has increased in Australia majorly in the last decade. Antibiotics resistance has resulted in a large amount of diseases and illnesses that cannot be cured or prevented by the use of antibiotics. One way that antibiotic resistance occurs is through the mutation of Bacterial Cells. This occurs when the bacterial cells divide thus multiplying and causing the Bacteria to find a way to become immune to…