Monoclonal Antibodies Are The Wave Of The Future
October 19, 2020 at 5:49 p.m.
By Max [email protected]
One of the latter was Regeneron’s drug called REGN-COV2, an infusion of two monoclonal antibodies designed to stick to the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Treatment with two monoclonal antibodies works to defeat “viral escape” that can occur when viruses mutate so they are no longer recognized and neutralized by a single monoclonal antibody. President Trump calls it a miracle cure. An editorial in Science magazine reported that it is the fruit of a gargantuan effort by scientists fighting hard to understand the viral spike protein and characteristics of the most potent neutralizing antibodies.
Antibodies —Discovery
Antibodies themselves were discovered in 1890 by physiologist Emil von Behring and microbiologist Shibasaburo Kitasata as protective antitoxins in the blood of animals exposed to diphtheria or tetanus toxin. Von Behring won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 1901 for the application of animal derived serum therapies, principally against diphtheria.
Since then, plasma based therapy has been attempted for infectious disease outbreaks ranging from the 1918 influenza pandemic to Ebola outbreaks from 1976 onward.
Antibodies – Definition
Antibodies are specialized, Y-shaped proteins that bind like a lock-and-key to the body's foreign invaders or pathogens — whether they are viruses, bacteria, fungi or parasites. As a group, these invaders are referred to as antigens. Antibodies are the "search" battalion of the immune system's search-and-destroy system, tasked with finding an enemy and marking it for destruction. When antibodies find their target, they bind to it, which then triggers a cascade of actions that vanquish the invader. Antibodies are part of the so-called "adaptive" immune system, the arm of the immune system that learns to recognize and eliminate the pathogens.
Adaptive immunity
Adaptive immunity is part of the immune response that develops over time and is refined as your body acquires a memory of specific pathogens that it encounters. Certain types of white blood cells, known as T and B lymphocytes, learn to recognize familiar invaders so that the body can mount a more efficient defense the next time that invader comes along. For example, if you’ve had measles, you’re unlikely to fall ill if you’re exposed again to the measles virus because your immune system is now armed and ready to respond.
Antibodies produced by the white blood cells appear in the blood stream about three days after the first encounter with antigens, things like bacteria, viruses or fungi. Once made, antibodies circulate throughout the body in search of the antigen that triggered their formation in the first place. Antibodies have the special property of binding specifically and tightly to that specific antigen.
Monoclonal Antibodies
Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made versions of proteins naturally produced by the immune system in response to invading viruses or other pathogens. Numerous research groups have isolated monoclonal antibodies most often from B cells of patients who have recently recovered from COVID-19, and in some cases, from patients who were infected with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) in 2003.
Neutralizing antibodies, whether natural or monoclonal, can bind directly to portions of viruses that they use to attach to and enter cells, preventing them from initiating the infection cycle. Monoclonal antibody therapy is meant to buy the body time to produce the arsenal of molecular defenses needed to fight the virus off on its own.
The main target of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing monoclonal antibodies is the surface spike that mediates viral entry into host cells. Monoclonal antibodies may provide short-term protection from SARS-CoV-2 and could serve as important components of the COVID-19 pandemic response until vaccines become available.
Monoclonal Antibodies —Treatment
More than 75 monoclonal antibodies have been licensed for use by the Food and Drug Administration. Only three however are used to treat or prevent infectious diseases – respiratory syncytial virus, anthrax and C. difficile. Two different monoclonal antibody products have been shown to be effective in reducing mortality from Ebola virus disease. One was a combination of 3 monoclonal antibodies, while the other was a single monoclonal antibody.
According to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the successful treatment of an aggressive fatal virus supports the potential of monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of COVID-19.
Naming
The nomenclature of monoclonal antibodies is a naming scheme for assigning generic, or nonproprietary, names to a group of medicines called monoclonal antibodies. This scheme is used for both the World Health Organization’s International Nonproprietary Names (INN) and the United States Adopted Names (USAN). In general, word stems are used to identify classes of drugs. All monoclonal antibody names end with the stem -mab. Unlike most other pharmaceuticals, monoclonal antibody nomenclature uses different preceding word parts (morphemes) depending on structure and function.
Max Sherman is a medical writer and pharmacist retired from the medical device industry. He has taught college courses on regulatory and compliance issues at Ivy Tech, Grace College and Butler University. Sherman has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge on all levels. Eclectic Science, the title of his column, touches on famed doctors and scientists, human senses, aging, various diseases, and little-known facts about many species, including their contributions to scientific research. His new book “Science Snippets” is available from Amazon and other book sellers. He can be reached by email at [email protected].
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One of the latter was Regeneron’s drug called REGN-COV2, an infusion of two monoclonal antibodies designed to stick to the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Treatment with two monoclonal antibodies works to defeat “viral escape” that can occur when viruses mutate so they are no longer recognized and neutralized by a single monoclonal antibody. President Trump calls it a miracle cure. An editorial in Science magazine reported that it is the fruit of a gargantuan effort by scientists fighting hard to understand the viral spike protein and characteristics of the most potent neutralizing antibodies.
Antibodies —Discovery
Antibodies themselves were discovered in 1890 by physiologist Emil von Behring and microbiologist Shibasaburo Kitasata as protective antitoxins in the blood of animals exposed to diphtheria or tetanus toxin. Von Behring won the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 1901 for the application of animal derived serum therapies, principally against diphtheria.
Since then, plasma based therapy has been attempted for infectious disease outbreaks ranging from the 1918 influenza pandemic to Ebola outbreaks from 1976 onward.
Antibodies – Definition
Antibodies are specialized, Y-shaped proteins that bind like a lock-and-key to the body's foreign invaders or pathogens — whether they are viruses, bacteria, fungi or parasites. As a group, these invaders are referred to as antigens. Antibodies are the "search" battalion of the immune system's search-and-destroy system, tasked with finding an enemy and marking it for destruction. When antibodies find their target, they bind to it, which then triggers a cascade of actions that vanquish the invader. Antibodies are part of the so-called "adaptive" immune system, the arm of the immune system that learns to recognize and eliminate the pathogens.
Adaptive immunity
Adaptive immunity is part of the immune response that develops over time and is refined as your body acquires a memory of specific pathogens that it encounters. Certain types of white blood cells, known as T and B lymphocytes, learn to recognize familiar invaders so that the body can mount a more efficient defense the next time that invader comes along. For example, if you’ve had measles, you’re unlikely to fall ill if you’re exposed again to the measles virus because your immune system is now armed and ready to respond.
Antibodies produced by the white blood cells appear in the blood stream about three days after the first encounter with antigens, things like bacteria, viruses or fungi. Once made, antibodies circulate throughout the body in search of the antigen that triggered their formation in the first place. Antibodies have the special property of binding specifically and tightly to that specific antigen.
Monoclonal Antibodies
Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made versions of proteins naturally produced by the immune system in response to invading viruses or other pathogens. Numerous research groups have isolated monoclonal antibodies most often from B cells of patients who have recently recovered from COVID-19, and in some cases, from patients who were infected with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) in 2003.
Neutralizing antibodies, whether natural or monoclonal, can bind directly to portions of viruses that they use to attach to and enter cells, preventing them from initiating the infection cycle. Monoclonal antibody therapy is meant to buy the body time to produce the arsenal of molecular defenses needed to fight the virus off on its own.
The main target of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing monoclonal antibodies is the surface spike that mediates viral entry into host cells. Monoclonal antibodies may provide short-term protection from SARS-CoV-2 and could serve as important components of the COVID-19 pandemic response until vaccines become available.
Monoclonal Antibodies —Treatment
More than 75 monoclonal antibodies have been licensed for use by the Food and Drug Administration. Only three however are used to treat or prevent infectious diseases – respiratory syncytial virus, anthrax and C. difficile. Two different monoclonal antibody products have been shown to be effective in reducing mortality from Ebola virus disease. One was a combination of 3 monoclonal antibodies, while the other was a single monoclonal antibody.
According to a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the successful treatment of an aggressive fatal virus supports the potential of monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of COVID-19.
Naming
The nomenclature of monoclonal antibodies is a naming scheme for assigning generic, or nonproprietary, names to a group of medicines called monoclonal antibodies. This scheme is used for both the World Health Organization’s International Nonproprietary Names (INN) and the United States Adopted Names (USAN). In general, word stems are used to identify classes of drugs. All monoclonal antibody names end with the stem -mab. Unlike most other pharmaceuticals, monoclonal antibody nomenclature uses different preceding word parts (morphemes) depending on structure and function.
Max Sherman is a medical writer and pharmacist retired from the medical device industry. He has taught college courses on regulatory and compliance issues at Ivy Tech, Grace College and Butler University. Sherman has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge on all levels. Eclectic Science, the title of his column, touches on famed doctors and scientists, human senses, aging, various diseases, and little-known facts about many species, including their contributions to scientific research. His new book “Science Snippets” is available from Amazon and other book sellers. He can be reached by email at [email protected].
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