The road to toxin-targeted therapeutic antibodies

Once an infection by a toxin-producing bacterium is well established, therapies such as antibiotics that target bacterial growth may have little impact on the ultimate patient outcome. In such cases, toxin-neutralizing antibodies offer an opportunity to block key virulence factors. New work by A. K. Varshney, X. Wang, J. L. Aguilar, M. D. Scharff, and B. C. Fries [mBio 5(3):e01007-14, 2014, doi:10.1128/mBio.01007-14] highlights the role of the antibody isotype in determining the efficacy of toxin-neutralizing antibodies in vivo. Varshney et al. examined the role of antibody isotype for protection in murine models of staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB)-induced lethal shock and sepsis produced by SEB-producing Staphylococcus aureus. Murine antibodies of the IgG2a isotype were more protective than antibodies of the IgG1 and IgG2b isotypes that have identical variable regions and binding activity. These results add to the complexity inherent in the selection and optimization of antibodies for anti-infective passive immunization and emphasize the need to use relevant in vivo models to evaluate potential therapeutic monoclonal antibodies.