As with naturally occurringantibodies, monoclonal antibodies stimulate theimmune systemto act against disease-causing agents.
Matching a specific human-made antibody to a particular target has many applications in medicine.
This article explains how monoclonal antibodies are created and used in medicine.
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It also describes the risks and benefits of monoclonal antibody therapies that are approved in the United States.
Each antibody is matched to the unique antigen on the surface of the invader.
Monoclonal antibodies are designed to mimic the action of naturally occurring antibodies.
This may involve fusing or grafting mouse antibodies onto human antibodies.
Monoclonal antibodies function in the same way as naturally occurring antibodies in that they “recognize” foreign agents.
One of the first applications of monoclonal antibodies was inblood typingandtissue typing(used to preventorgan transplant rejection).
Monoclonal antibodies are also used to identify infectious and noninfectious diseases.
This includes theWestern blotused to diagnose diseases based on specific proteins in a blood or tissue sample.
A positive result is returned when the introduced antibody binds to its target antigen in the sample.
Cancer is one of the diseases in which monoclonal antibodies play an increasingly important role.
But, there are other conditions, includingautoimmune diseases, that benefit from monoclonal antibody therapy.
Therapy Types
Monoclonal antibodies work in different ways to fight disease.
Some bind to proteins that trigger damaging autoimmuneinflammation.
Other Uses
Many monoclonal antibodies have multiple indications and can be used to treat different diseases.
Monoclonal antibodies can also cause the reactivation of TB andhepatitis B.
Symptoms tend to develop one to two hours after treatment.
There are more than 100 monoclonal antibodies licensed as drugs by the FDA.
Some are given by intravenous (IV) infusion, while others are delivered by subcutaneous injection.
They can also be made entirely in the test tube with recombinant DNA technology.
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