Production of monoclonal antibodies - Higher
Greg Foot describes how monoclonal antibodies are produced and how they work
'Mono' means one and 'clone' means identical copy. Identical copies of an antibody produced by fusing a spleen cell with a cancerous white blood cell which can be designed to bind to many different substances. are identical copies of one type of antibody.
A protein produced by the immune system in humans (and other animals) that attacks foreign organisms (antigens) that get into the body. are proteins produced by a type of white blood called White blood cells which attack pathogens by producing antibodies.. Microorganism that causes disease. have proteins on their surface called A protein on the surface of a substance (often a pathogen) that triggers an immune response.. When a pathogen infects the body, the lymphocytes recognise these antigens as Not the same as those of the host organism. These are recognised by the immune system of the host and attacked by its white blood cells. and attack them by producing antibodies.
Antibodies bind to specific antigens on pathogens. This means that only one type of antibody will bind to a matching antigen. Scientists discovered that we could make antibodies to bind to antigens on other substances, and not just those on pathogens. Once bound the antigens - and the substances they are found on - are merged tightly together. This makes them easier to identify and deal with.
Formation of monoclonal antibodies
- An antigen is injected into a mouse.
- The mouse naturally produces lymphocytes, which produce antibodies specific to the antigen. Lymphocytes can no longer divide once it has started to make antibodies.
- Spleen cells which produce the lymphocytes are removed during a small operation.
- The spleen cells are fused with human cancerous white blood cells called Cancerous white blood cells used in the formation of monoclonal antibodies. to form Cells formed from fusing spleen cells with myeloma cells which will produce monoclonal antibodies.. Cancerous cells divide indefinitely.
- These hybridoma cells divide and produce millions of monoclonal antibodies specific to the original antigen. The hybridoma cells have the characteristics of both the lymphocyte in producing antibodies and the cancerous cell in the ability to divide over and over again.