Monospecific antibody

Monospecific antibodies are antibodies that all have affinity for the same antigen. Monoclonal antibodies are monospecific, but monospecific antibodies may also be produced by other means than producing them from a common germ cell.

Production

Hybridoma cell

Monoclonal antibodies are typically made by fusing the spleen cells from a mouse that has been immunized with the desired antigen with myeloma cells. However, recent advances have allowed the use of rabbit B-cells.

PrEST

Another way of producing monospecific antibodies are by PrESTs. A PrEST (protein epitope signature tag) is a type of recombinantly produced human protein fragment. They are inserted into an animal, e.g. rabbit, which produces antibodies against the fragment. These antibodies are monospecific against the human protein.[1]

Cautions

Recent research has led to the discovery that unstable hinged monospecific antibodies may engage in a process leading to a decrease in their apparent avidity/affinity. This process, termed Fab arm exchange, has led to theories about the dissemination of viral infections in patients given monospecific IgG4 therapeutic antibodies. Evidence is suggestive that this process is linked to the dissemination of PML in patients given Tysabri for MS. Following dosing unpredictability still reigns and mutations in the hinge of the antibody which may prevent Fab-arm exchange in-vivo should be considered when designing therapeutic antibodies. (Nat Biotechnol. 2009 Aug;27(8):767-71. Epub 2009 Jul 20)

References

  1. ↑ Larsson K, Wester K, Nilsson P, Uhlén M, Hober S, Wernérus H (2006). "Multiplexed PrEST immunization for high-throughput affinity proteomics". J. Immunol. Methods 315 (1–2): 110–20. doi:10.1016/j.jim.2006.07.014. PMID 16949094.

See also