Antibodies as diagnostic tools Flashcards
Which part of antibody is constant?
Fc
What can you do because the Fc part is constant?
Attach various things to this constant part without affecting the binding ability of the antibody to the antigen
Which part of the antibody is variable?
Fab- antigen binding part
What sort of things are reporters?
Enzymes- peroxidase, alkaline phosphatase etc
Fluorescent probes- dyes, beads of different sizes
Radioisotopes
Magnetic beads
Why are antibodies used in diagnostic tests?
Their unique specificity for their target antigens
Where do the antibodies that are used come from?
Patient- In autoimmune disease Defence against infection Manufactured- Antisera from immunised animals Monoclonal antibodies Genetically engineered antibodies
How do you generate monoclonal antibodies?
You take a normal B lymphocyte which produces the antibody of interest and you fuse it with a myeloma cell line which gives you a hybridoma
These cells have the ability to produce the antibody of interest, furthermore, as it is fused with a tumour cell it can divide indefinitely
What are manufactured antibodies used for therapeutically?
Prophylactic protection against microbial infection
Anti-cancer therapy
Removal of T-cells from bone marrow grafts
Block cytokine activity
How do manufactured antibodies act as anti-cancer therapy?
Monoclonal antibodies target molecules that are over-expressed on certain types of tumours
Why is removal of T cells from bone marrow grafts important?
T cells cause graft versus host disease in transplants
For the nomenclature of therapeutic monoclonal antibodies, what does the suffix -omab mean?
It is mouse monoclonal e.g. muronomab (anti CD3, transplant immunosuppression)
What does the suffix -imab mean?
Chimeric or partly humanised e.g. infliximab (remicade) (Anti TNFalpha)
What does the suffix -umab mean?
Human origin e.g. palivizumab (anti-RSV)
Which ones are ideal that are used therapeutically?
-umab
What are manufactured antibodies used diagnostically?
Tissue typing
Blood group serology
Immunoassays- hormones, antibodies and antigens
Immunodiagnosis- infectious diseases, autoimmunity, allergy and malignancy