Drugs and Monoclonal antibodies Flashcards
Were are most drugs made today?
Most drugs are made in a lab
What must a drug undergo before it can be rolled out to the public?
A drug must undergo clinical tests.
What three things do tests check for in drugs?
Toxicity, efficacy, dosage.
What is toxicity?
How dangerous a drug isw
What is efficacy?
How useful the drug is at providing the desired outcome
What is dosage?
How much of the drug do you need to give to get the desired outcome.
What are two examples of drugs?
Aspirin, Digitalis, Paracetomol, Ibuprofen
What are types of drugs?
Recreational, medicinal,
What is a drug?
A substance that has a psychological effect on a person.
What are the three main stages of drug testing?
Stage 1, 2, 3.
What happens in stage 1?
The substance we think is a drug is tested on human cells and tissues grown in a lab. This is a Preclinical stage.
What happens in Stage 2?
Testing on live animals. In the UK, all substances must be tested on live mammals such as mice and rabbits. There is also some testing on healthy volunteers, usually 100-300.
What happens in Stage 3?`
The final stage is to give the drug to healthy volunteers. Firstly, we will give a very small dose. Then, we will gradually increase the dodge over time. This is done to find the optimum dosage of the drug.
Name 4 protocols undertaken in tests?
Randomisation, Placebo, Double-Blind trials and Clinical trials
What is randomisation of patients?
When all the participants are split into different groups
What is a placebo?
A medicine that doesn’t actually have any of the real drug in it. Often used as a control method for experiments.
What is a double blind trial?
A trial where neither the participants nor the researcher knows who has received the drug and who has received a placebo.
What are clinical trials?
Research studies performed on people.
Why are healthy volunteers used in clinical tests?
To make sure that there are no dangerous side effects.
What are some advantages of making drugs in labs?
Different plants contain different amounts of the chemical, so it would be hard to regulate how much is in a drug/pill.
It requires a lot of plant to produce a little drug, however in labs they can be mass produced.
It is cheaper and quicker in labs.
Why do plants produce drugs?
To benefit themselves, to stop anismals from eating them, to get rid of microorganisms, to attract organisms for pollination.
What are monoclonal antibodies?
Monoclonal antibodies are simple antibodies from a single clone of a cell. Antibodies are small proteins produced by our immune system, and their job is to help us fight off disease.
Where are monoclonal antibodies generally produced?
They are generally produced in laboratories.
What is a hybridoma?
A hybridoma cell is A B - Lymphocyte cell combined with a fast dividing tumor cells.
How do we make Monoclonal Antibodies?
Inject an animal, like a mouse, with the antigen.
Then, let the mouse have an immune response and produce B-Lymphocytes. Once the B-Lymphocytes are formed, isolate them.
Then, combine the tumor cells with the B-Lymphocytes to produce Hybridomas
Let the Hybridomas divide for some time in a petri dish.
Finally, collect the antibodies they produce and purify it.
What can we add onto a monoclonal antibody?
Drugs, Fluorscent proteins and radioactive material
Why do we add a fast dividing tumor cell to a B-Lymphocyte?
We need lots of B-Lymphocytes to make monoclonal antibodies, however they are naturally very slow at dividing, so we combine them with fast dividing tumor cells to make them divide quickly.
What hormone does a women release when she is pregnant?
HCG
How does a pregnancy test work?
The test strip has two parts. On the right, there are monoclonal antibodies specific to HCG, which means they can bind to the HCG hormone if they come into contact with it. On the left, there are beads. When the urine goes on the beads, covered in the same monoclonal antibodies seen on the right. The beads and the antibodies are free to move around.
If the women isn’t pregnant, the urine will wash the beads right over the antibodies stuck to the strip on the right. This means that the strip will NOT go blue. However, if the women is pregnant, the HCG will bind to the antibodies, and it will bind to the fixed antibodies, and the beads will get stuck in place, making the test strip go blue indicating a positive result. In real life, most pregnancy tests have two lines, with the second line acting as a control. So you’ll need two lines for a positive result.
What is the ‘optimal dosage’
The dosage that is most effective at getting the desired outcome while causing the least side effects.
Why should we use a placebo
It can prevent the placebo effect, it ensures the drug actually work and it eleminates psychological bias.
What are the main application of monoclonal antibodies?
Diagnosis
Pregnancy kits
Cancer treatment
Covid-19 test kit
Why are double blind trials conducted?
To prevent researcher bias, ensures reliable results and allows for fair testing.
Why are fluorescent dyes attached to monoclonal antibodies?
The monoclonal antibody will go and bind to the specific cell or protein, and the fluorescent dye will glow, allowing scientists to see exactly the antibody has attached to UNDER A MICROSCOPE
