WHAT IS A MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY?

Antibodies (Abs) belong to the immunoglobin superfamily and are secreted as a form of defense against antigens and foreign organisms. Therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) often derive from the y-immunoglobulin isotype.

Typically, antigen immune response is polyclonal, but murine mAbs were developed in 1975.

Initially, there were issues with using of murine mAbs; they have a shorter half-life than human immunoglobin, and have reduced function in oncology applications.

In vitro phage display technology and transgenic mouse strains allowed researchers to overcome these drawbacks and have access to fully humanized mAbs.

RESEARCH APPLICATIONS

Therapeutics

MAbs can be used directly as therapeutic treatment for a number of diseases. Researchers have used mAbs to develop treatments for cancers, autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular diseases and many more.

Diagnostics

MAbs can be used to in clinical diagnostics and imaging. Using mAbs as reagents allows researchers to measure the hormone concentration, and other products like blood and tumors. This makes mAbs a powerful resource in early diagnostics of diseases.

MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES AT UF | ICBR

The Monoclonal Antibody core at UF | ICBR develops new mouse monoclonal antibodies for investigators to use in basic and applied research. Services include mouse immunization, cell fusion, and monoclonal antibody analyses such as antibody/antigen affinity measurements, epitope binning and identification of matched antibody pairs. The core also offers customer training on select self-service instruments.​