Use of anti-receptor antibodies to focus T-cell activity

The T-cell receptor dictates that T cells recognize foreign antigen in the context of self major histocompatibility complex (MHC) encoded molecules. Cells which are recognized as foreign by the T-cell system are efficiently rejected by direct cytolysis or in a lymphokine-mediated way. Meanwhile, antibodies recognize native antigen and can be made available reproducibly and in quantity. Here, Uwe Staerz and Michael Bevan discuss the use of hybrid antibodies, composed of anti-receptor/anti-X, to confer the specificity of antibody to a T-cell response.