Antibody Engineering and Immunotherapeutics

Abstract

Antibodies have been known for many years to be a powerful therapeutic molecule and have given rise to the ‘magic bullet’ approach to targeted therapy of disease. Significant advances in the discovery and development of monoclonal antibodies and hybridoma technology led to the first engineered antibody in 1984. Since then, hundreds of antibodies are now being used for treatment and many more are in clinical trials. This chapter focuses on the production of hybridomas, the development of antibody humanisation techniques, surface display strategies and transgenic techniques that all play a major role in monoclonal antibody production for use in immunotherapeutics. The ability to conjugate antibodies to toxins and drugs to allow the delivery of potent molecules to disease targets and the potential to produce antibody fragments such as scFvs and nanobodies is also introduced. Furthermore, advances in CDR (complementarity-determining region) analysis and the molecular techniques that allow the fine tuning of antibody specificity and affinity are also covered. There is no doubt that the new generation of biological therapeutics will continue to have a profound impact on the present and future treatment of disease and a number of examples are presented within the chapter.