Antibiotics - Producing Monoclonal Antibodies (GCSE Biology)
Producing Monoclonal Antibodies
Monoclonal and Polyclonal Antibodies
We’ve discussed how antibodies are produced in the immune system. Antibodies are specific, which means that they can only bind to certain antigens. However, it can be either monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies:
- Monoclonal antibodies are very specific, and only bind to a particular antigen structure. They therefore can only target a specific chemical or specific cells in the body.
- Polyclonal antibodies are still specific to a particular antigen, but they can recognise different variations of the same antigen, so they are a bit less ‘fussy’.
Making Monoclonal Antibodies
Natural Production
Antibodies are made when lymphocytes are activated, stimulating an antibody producing cell called a B lymphocyte. Monoclonal antibodies are antibodies made from one clone of a B lymphocyte, whereas polyclonal antibodies are made from lots of different clones of B lymphocytes.
Artificial Production
Monoclonal antibodies can be made artificially from mice. In the next section we will discuss why we want to make monoclonal antibodies, but first let us learn how the process works. Here is the step by step process:
- Insert the antigen into a mouse. The monoclonal antibody you want to produce will have a specific antigen. This antigen is inserted into a mouse to initiate an immune response in the mouse.
- The mouse immune response occurs. The mouse’s immune response takes place and antibodies are created against the supposed pathogen. You may want to go back to the tutorial on the immune system to remind you how antibodies are produced.
- B Lymphocytes are taken from the mouse. The mouse currently has lots of B lymphocytes making our desired antibody. The spleen produces lymphocytes, so we can harvest (take) some B lymphocytes from the mouse spleen.
- The lymphocytes are combined with tumour cells. We can’t just grow the B lymphocytes, because they divide very slowly. Therefore we can combine these slow-growing B lymphocytes with fastgrowing tumour cells called myeloma cells. This forms fast-growing hybridoma cells.
- Many antibodies are produced in the fermenter. The hybridoma cells are then cloned and used to produce many cells that all make the same antibody. The antibodies can be collected and purified.
FAQs
Antibiotics are drugs that are used to treat infections caused by bacteria. They work by either killing the bacteria or preventing their growth.
Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-produced antibodies that are designed to target a specific antigen or protein in the body. In GCSE Biology, antibodies are proteins produced by the immune system that can recognize and bind to specific antigens, such as viruses or bacteria, and help to neutralize or destroy them.
Monoclonal antibodies are made by fusing a specific type of immune cell called a B-cell with a cancerous cell called a myeloma cell. The resulting fused cell is called a hybridoma and it can produce large amounts of a single type of antibody that is specific to the antigen that the B-cell was originally targeting.
A Monoclonal antibody has a wide range of applications in medicine and research. For example, they can be used to treat certain types of cancer by targeting and destroying cancer cells, or to treat autoimmune diseases by blocking the activity of specific immune cells. They can also be used in diagnostic tests to detect the presence of specific proteins or markers in blood or other samples.
In summary, monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-produced proteins that can target specific antigens or proteins in the body and have a wide range of applications in medicine and research.
Polyclonal antibodies are a mixture of antibodies that are produced by different clones of B-cells in response to a particular antigen. In contrast to monoclonal antibodies, which are produced by a single clone of B-cells, polyclonal antibodies are produced by many different clones of B-cells, each of which recognizes a different epitope or region on the antigen.
Polyclonal antibodies are generated by injecting an animal, such as a rabbit or goat, with a specific antigen. The animal’s immune system then produces a range of antibodies against the antigen, each of which recognizes a different epitope on the antigen. The antibodies are then harvested from the animal’s serum and purified.
Polyclonal antibodies have a number of advantages over monoclonal antibodies. They are generally easier and less expensive to produce, and they have a broader range of epitope recognition, which means that they can recognize multiple regions on an antigen. This can be particularly useful in applications such as immunohistochemistry, where multiple regions of an antigen may be present.
Monoclonal antibodies are produced using a process called cell culture and hybridoma technology. In this process, immune cells are taken from an animal and combined with cancer cells to create a hybrid cell line that produces a specific type of antibody. This hybrid cell line is then used to produce large amounts of the monoclonal antibody in a laboratory.
An antibody is considered monoclonal if it is produced by a population of identical immune cells, all of which are clones of a single parent cell. Monoclonal antibodies are produced using hybridoma technology, which involves the fusion of a specific type of immune cell called a B-cell with a cancerous cell called a myeloma cell.
There are several benefits to producing monoclonal antibodies, including the ability to produce large amounts of a specific type of antibody for use as a treatment for a specific disease, the ability to produce a consistent and uniform product, and the ability to produce antibodies that target specific pathogens.
Monoclonal antibodies are used in medicine to treat a wide range of diseases, including cancer, autoimmune diseases, and infectious diseases. They are often used as a targeted treatment because they can be designed to specifically bind to and neutralize specific pathogens.
There are potential drawbacks to using monoclonal antibodies, including the potential for side effects, the cost of production, and the potential for the development of resistance by pathogens. Additionally, not all patients will respond to treatment with monoclonal antibodies.
The future of monoclonal antibody research is focused on improving the production and effectiveness of these treatments and finding new ways to use them to treat a wider range of diseases. This may include the development of new hybridoma technology, the use of genetic engineering to produce human-like antibodies, and the development of new methods for delivering monoclonal antibodies to patients.
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