Monoclonal antibodies

The ability to produce and exploit monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) has revolutionized many areas of biological sciences. The unique property of an mAb is that it is a single species of immunoglobulin (IG) molecule. This means that the specificity of the interaction of the paratopes on the IG, with the epitopes on an antigenic target, is the same on every molecule. This property can be used to great benefit in immunoassays to provide tests of defined specificity and sensitivity, which improve the possibilities of standardization. The performance of assays can often be determined relating the actual weight of antibody (hence the number of molecules) to the activity. Often the production of an mAb against a specific epitope is the only way that biological entities can be differentiated. This chapter outlines the areas involving the development of assays based on mAbs. The problems involved address include the physical aspects of mAbs and how they may affect assay design and also the implications of results based on monospecific reagents. Often these are not fully understood, leading to assays that are less than satisfactory, which does not justify the relatively high cost of preparing and screening of mAbs. There are many textbooks and reviews dealing with the preparation of mAbs, the principles involved, and various purification and manipulative methods for the preparation of fragments and conjugation. There has been little general information attempting to summarize the best approaches to assay design using mAbs. Much time can be wasted through bad planning, and this is particularly relevant to mAbs. A proper understanding of some basic principles is essential. It is beyond the scope of this chapter to discuss all aspects, but major areas are highlighted.