2. Monoclonal & Polyclonal Antibodies
•Monoclonal antibodies (mAb):
• Are antibodies that are identical because they are produced by
one type of immune cell, all clones of a single parent cell.
•Polyclonal antibodies:
• Are antibodies that are derived from different cell lines. They
differ in amino acid sequence.
5. Practical steps in monoclonal antibody production:
1) Immunize animal .
2) Isolate spleen cells (containing antibody-producing B cells) .
3) Fuse spleen cells with myeloma cells (e.g. using PEG - polyethylene glycol) .
4) Allow unfused B cells to die .
5) Add aminopterin to culture to kill unfused myeloma cells.
6) Clone remaining cells (place 1 cell/well and allow each cell to grow into a clone
of cells) .
7) Screen supernatant of each clone for presence of the desired antibody .
8) Grow the chosen clone of cells in tissue culture indefinitely.
9) Harvest antibody from the culture supernatant.
7. Monoclonal antibodies advantages
• 1) Homogeneity:
• Monoclonal antibody represents a single antibody molecule that binds to antigens
with the same affinity and promote the same
• effectors functions.
• 2) Specificity:
The product of a single hybridoma reacts with the same epitope on
• antigens.
• 3) Immunizing Antigen:
• Need not be pure or characterized and is ultimately not needed to produce large
quantities of antibody.
• 4) Selection:
• It is possible to select for specific epitope specificities and generate antibodies against
a wider range of antigenic determinants.
• 5) Antibody Production:
• Unlimited quantities of a single well-defined monospecific reagent.
8. Monoclonal antibodies disadvantages
• 1) Affinity:
• Average affinity of monoclonal antibodies are generally lower than polyclonal
antibodies.
• 2) Effector Functions:
Because antibody is monoclonal, it may not produce the
• desired biologic response.
• 3) Specificity:
• Monoclonal against conformational epitopes on native proteins may lose reactivity
with antigens.
• 4) Cross reactions:
• Antibodies sometimes display unexpected crossreactions with unrelated antigens.
• 5) Time and effort commitment: VERY LARGE.
9. Application of monoclonal antibodies
• Diagnostic Testing
•Pregnancy Testing
• Therapeutic uses
• Treatment of Cancer through Drugs
• Radioimmunodetection (RID) of Cancer
• Radioimmunotherapy (RIT) of Cancer
•Viral Disease Treatment
• Identifying Pathogens
10. Common Side effects of mAb
• Fever
• Chills
• Weakness
• Headache
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Low blood pressure
•Allergies
•Cough
• Back pain
•General weakness
•Loss of appetite
•Insomnia
•Constipation
•Rashes