[11] Antibody Engineering and Therapeutics Flashcards
What is antibody engineering?
A field of biotechnology that involves the modification of antibodies to improve their therapeutic properties.
What are antibodies?
Proteins produced by the immune system that bind to specific antigens, aiding in their neutralization or destruction.
What is therapeutic antibody?
An antibody specifically designed to bind to a target that helps treat a specific disease.
What are monoclonal antibodies?
Antibodies that are clones of a unique parent cell and target a specific antigen.
Initials: mAbs
Monoclonal antibodies
What are some applications of antibody engineering?
- Cancer therapy
- Autoimmune disorders
- Infectious diseases
What is antibody humanization?
A process in antibody engineering where non-human antibodies are modified to increase their similarity to human antibodies, reducing immunogenicity.
What is immunogenicity?
The ability of a substance, such as an antigen or a drug, to provoke an immune response.
What is a hybridoma?
A fused cell hybrid that is used in the production of monoclonal antibodies.
What is phage display in antibody engineering?
A technique used to study protein-protein, protein-peptide, and protein-DNA interactions that uses bacteriophages to connect proteins with the genetic information that encodes them.
What is an antigen-binding fragment (Fab)?
A region on an antibody that binds to antigens. It is composed of one constant and one variable domain of each of the heavy and light chain.
Initials: Fab
Antigen-binding fragment
What are bispecific antibodies?
Antibodies that can bind to two different antigens at the same time, allowing them to target multiple disease pathways.
What is the role of therapeutic antibodies in cancer treatment?
They can block certain proteins that cancer cells need to grow, or stimulate the immune system to attack cancer cells.
What is Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs)?
Monoclonal antibodies attached to biologically active drugs used for targeted drug delivery.
