PAPER

MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY

PROPOSED FOR BIOLOGI STORY TELLING COMPETITION HELD BY PENDIDIKAN BIOLOGI UNIVERSITAS ISLAM NEGERI SUNAN KALIJAGA YOGYAKARTA

BY ESI PUSPITA WULANDARI NIS. 3735

SMA NEGERI 1 IMOGIRI DINAS PENDIDIKAN MENENGAH DAN NONFORMAL PEMERINTAH DAERAH KABUPATEN BANTUL 2010

INTRODUCTION "What is Biotechnology?" Substances foreign to the body, such as disease-causing bacteria and viruses and other infectious agents, known as antigens, are recognized by the body's immune system as invaders. Our natural defenses against these infectious agents are antibodies, proteins that seek out the antigens and help destroy them. Antibodies have two very useful characteristics. First, they are extremely specific; that is, each antibody binds to and attacks one particular antigen. Second, some antibodies, once activated by the occurrence of a disease, continue to confer resistance against that disease; classic examples are the antibodies to the childhood diseases chickenpox and measles. The second characteristic of antibodies makes it possible to develop vaccines. A vaccine is a preparation of trifled or weakened bacteria or viruses that, when introduced into the body, stimulates the production of antibodies against antibodies be used therapeutically, to protect against disease; they can also help to diagnose a wide variety of illnesses, and can detect the presence of drugs, viral and bacterial products, and other unusual or abnormal substances in the blood. Given such a diversity of uses for these disease-fighting substances, their production in pure quantities has long been the focus of scientific investigation. The conventional method was to inject a laboratory animal with an antigen and then, after antibodies had been formed, collect those antibodies from the blood serum (antibody-containing blood serum is called antiserum). There are two problems with this method: It yields antiserum that contains undesired substances, and it provides a very small amount of usable antibody. What is a monoclonal antibody? A monoclonal antibody is a laboratoryproduced molecule that's carefully engineered to attach to specific defects in your cancer cells. Monoclonal antibodies mimic the antibodies your body naturally produces as part of your immune system's response to germs, vaccines and other invaders.

CONTENT A. Monoclonal Antibodies Humans (and mice) have the ability to make antibodies able to recognize (by binding to) virtually any antigenic determinant (epitope) and to discriminate between even similar epitopes. Not only does this provide the basis for protection against disease organisms, but it makes antibodies attractive candidates to target other types of molecules found in the body, such as receptors or other proteins present on the surface of normal cells and molecules present uniquely on the surface of cancer cells. Thus the remarkable specificity of antibodies makes them promising agents for human therapy. Imagine, for example, being able to make an antibody that will bind only to the cancer cells in a patient,coupling a cytotoxic agent (e.g. a strong radioactive isotope) to that antibody, and then giving the complex to the patient so it can seek out and destroy the cancer cells (and no normal cells). But there are problems to be solved before antibodies can be used in human therapy :
1. The response of the immune system to any antigen, even the simplest, is

polyclonal. That is, the system manufactures antibodies of a great range of structures both in their binding regions as well as in their effector regions
2. Even if one were to isolate a single antibody-secreting cell, and place it in

culture, it would die out after a few generations because of the limited growth potential of all normal somatic cells Process by which large quantities of antibodies (targeted against a particular antigen X) can be produced.A mouse is immunized by injection of an antigen X to stimulate the production of antibodies targeted against X. The antibody forming cells are isolated from the mouse's spleen. Monoclonal antibodies ae produced by fusing single antibodies-forming cells grown in culture. The resulting cell is called a hybridoma. Each hybridoma produces relatively large quantities of identical

antibody molecules. By allowing the hybridoma to multiply in culture, it is possible to produce a population of cells, each of which produces identical antibody molecules. These antibodies are called "monoclonal antibodies" because they are produced by the identical offspring of a single, cloned antibody producing cell. Once a monoclonal antibody is made, it can be used as a specific probe to track down and purify the specific protein that induced its formation. B. Uses for monoclonal antibodies Monoclonal antibodies are widely used as diagnostic and research reagents. Their introduction into human therapy has been much slower. In some in vivo applications, the antibody itself is sufficient. Once bound to its target, it triggers the normal effector mechanisms of the body. In other cases, the monoclonal antibody is coupled to another molecule, for example a fluorescent molecule to aid in imaging the target and a strongly-radioactive atom, such as Iodine-131 to aid in killing the target. Monoclonal antibody technology allows us to produce large amounts of pure antibodies in the following way: We can obtain cells that produce antibodies naturally; we also have available a class of cells that can grow continually in cell culture. If we forma hybrid that combines the characteristic of "immortality" with the ability to produce the desired substance, we would have, in effect, a factory to produce antibodies that worked around the clock. In monoclonal antibody technology, tumor cells that can replicate endlessly are fused with mammalian cells that produce an antibody. The result of this cell fusion is a "hybridoma," which will continually produce antibodies. These antibodies are called monoclonal because they come from only one type of cell, the hybridoma cell; antibodies produced by conventional methods, on the other hand, are derived from preparations containing many kinds of cells, and hence are called polyclonal. An example of how monoclonal antibodies are derived is described below.

A myeloma is a tumor of the bone marrow that can be adapted to grow permanently in cell culture. When myeloma cells were fused with antibodyproducing mammalian spleen cells, it was found that the resulting hybrid cells, or hybridomas, produced large amounts of monoclonal antibody. This product of cell fusion combined the desired qualities of the two different types of cells: the ability to grow continually, and the ability to produce large Monoclonal antibodies attack the target molecule and only the target molecule, with no or greatly diminished side effects. C. Monoclonal antibody drugs for cancer treatment: How they work If you're considering monoclonal antibody therapy as part of your cancer treatment, learn about these drugs and carefully weigh the benefits against the potential side effects. Monoclonal antibody drugs area relatively new innovation in cancer treatment. While several monoclonal antibody drugs are available for treating certain cancers, the best way to use these new drugs isn't always clear. If you and your doctor are considering using a monoclonal antibody as part of your cancer treatment, find out what to expect from this therapy. Together you and your doctor can decide whether a monoclonal antibody treatment may be right for you. How do monoclonal antibody drugs work? When a monoclonal antibody attaches to a cancer cell, it can: 1. Make the cancer cell more visible to the immune system. The immune system attacks foreign invaders in your body, but it doesn't always recognize cancer cells as enemies. A monoclonal antibody can be directed to attach to certain parts of a cancer cell. In this way, the antibody marks the cancer cell and makes it easier for the immune system to find. The monoclonal antibody drug rituximab (Rituxan) attaches to a specific protein (CD20) only found on B cells, one type of white blood cell. Certain types of lymphomas arise from these same B cells. When

rituximab attaches to this protein on the B cells, it makes the cells more visible to the immune system, which can then attack. Rituximab lowers the number of B. 2. Signaling the cells to grow. Certain cancer cells make extra copies of the growth factor receptor. This makes them grow faster than the normal cells. Monoclonal antibodies can block these receptors and prevent the growth signal from getting through. 3. Cetuximab (Erbitux), a monoclonal antibody approved to treat colon cancer and head and neck cancers, attaches to receptors on cancer cells that accept a certain growth signal (epidermal growth factor). Cancer cells and some healthy cells rely on this signal to tell them to divide and multiply. Blocking this signal from reaching its target on the cancer cells may slow or stop the cancer from growing. 4. Deliver radiation to cancer cells. By combining a radioactive particle with a monoclonal antibody, doctors can deliver radiation directly to the cancer cells. This way, most of the surrounding healthy cells aren't damaged. Radiation-linked monoclonal antibodies deliver a low level of radiation over a longer period of time, which researchers believe is as effective as the more conventional high-dose external ~ radiat io n. Tbritumomab (Zevalin), approved for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, combines a monoclonal antibody with radioactive particles. The ibritumomab monoclonal antibody attaches to receptors on cancerous blood cells and delivers the radiation. 5. Slip powerful drugs into cancer cells. Powerful anti-cancer drugs or toxins can be attached to monoclonal antibodies. The drugs remain inactive until they're inside the target cells, lowering the chance of harming other cells. Gemtuzumab (Mylotarg), approved for treating a certain type of acute myelogenous leukemia, is a monoclonal antibody attached to a potent anti-cancer drug made from a bacterium. The monoclonal antibody in gemtuzumab attaches to specific

receptors on leukemic cells. Then the anti-cancer drug enters the cancer cell and is activated, causing the cancer cell to die. SUMMARY A monoclonal antibody is a laboratory-produced molecule that's carefully engineered to attach to specific defects in your cancer cells. Monoclonal antibodies mimic the antibodies your body naturally produces as part of your immune system's response to germs, vaccines and other invaders. A number of monoclonal antibody drugs are available to treat various types of cancer. Clinical trials are studying monoclonal antiboy drugs in treating nearly every type of cancer. REFERENCES Butler,Michael, 1987, Animal Cell Technology : principles and products, England : Open University Press. www.wikipedia.com