ABSTRACT
Attention to therapeutic monoclonal antibodies has been dramatically increasing year by year. Their highly specific targeting of antigens can provide very effective medical treatment, and the advent of molecular-targeting medicine is allowing development of a new generation of therapeutic agents. However, there is one critical obstacle to overcome. Most of the established therapeutic monoclonal antibodies have specificity for the primary structures of target antigens, although all proteins harbor original native intact structures for their own specific functions. Stereo-specific monoclonal antibodies recognizing conformational structures of target antigens may thus offer a markedly more versatile approach. Their application may change the very concepts underlying use of therapeutic antibodies.
Subject(s)
Antibodies, Monoclonal/therapeutic use , Autoimmune Diseases/therapy , Dermatitis, Atopic/therapy , Immunotherapy/methods , Neoplasms/therapy , Animals , Antibody Affinity , Autoimmune Diseases/immunology , Dermatitis, Atopic/immunology , Drug Approval , Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte/immunology , Humans , Neoplasms/immunology , Protein Conformation , StereoisomerismABSTRACT
Based on the size and scope of the present global market for medicine, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have a very promising future, with applications for cancers through autoimmune ailments to infectious disease. Since mAbs recognize only their target antigens and not other unrelated proteins, pinpoint medical treatment is possible. Global demand is dramatically expanding. Hybridoma technology, which allows production of mAbs directed against antigens of interest is therefore privileged. However, there are some pivotal points for further development to generate therapeutic antibodies. One is selective generation of human mAbs. Employment of transgenic mice producing human antibodies would overcome this problem. Another focus is recognition sites and conformational epitopes in antigens may be just as important as linear epitopes, especially when membrane proteins such as receptors are targeted. Recognition of intact structures is of critical importance for medical purposes. In this review, we describe patent related information for therapeutic mAbs based on hybridoma technology and also discuss new advances in hybridoma technology that facilitate selective production of stereospecific mAbs.