IB Docs (2) Team
Monoclonal antibodies
The discovery of antibodies and the immune response has led to a number of medical uses. Where the antibodies are harvested from a single clone of B-lymphocytes these antibodies are called "monoclonal antibodies". This distinguishes it from the "polyclonal response" which is more common in the immune system. Hereptin as a cancer drug is one example and the other is a pregnancy test.
Lesson Description
Guiding Question
If you could make drugs stick only to the cells which needed the medicine, what advantages would there be?
Activity 1 - Monoclonal antibodies
Watch the following video which introduces the production of a new cancer drug called Herceptin.
This drug has reduced breast cancer death rates by over 33%
Heceptin - the first monoclonal treatment for cancer
The first step in the production of monoclonal antibodies is to get an animals immune system to produce antibodies.
Watch the video above which explain the important roles of animals in the production of antibodies for the membrane protein HER2.
Complete the table on the 
monoclonal antibody production worksheet below to give the details of the production of monoclonal antibodies for the drug Herceptin.
- the fusion of tumour cells (melanoma) and B-cells,
- proliferation of these "hybridoma" cells and their production of antibodies.
- one example of treatment. - Breast cancer with herceptin
Activity 2 - Diagnosis using monoclonal antibodies - Pregnancy testing kits
An example of diagnosis using monoclonal antibodies is the detection of human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG) in pregnancy test kits.
In fact there are three different types of monoclonal antibodies in one pregnancy testing kit.
Follow 
these slides on pregnancy tests to see how they work.
Students complete the Monoclonal antibody use worksheet to record their understanding of this use of monoclonal antibodies in notes.
Activity 3 - Monoclonal antibodies quiz
Complete these multiple choice questions about monoclonal antibodies individually or as a plenary activity.
What are monoclonal antibodies?
When B-lymphocytes are activated they clone themselves and make antibodies which have receptors for a single antigen. A set of antigens produced by the clones of one parent cell will all produce the same antigen. They are monoclonal antibodies.
Which of the following is a medical use of monoclonal antibodies
Monoclonal antibodies are used to make antibodies to HCG which are then used to make pregnancy testing kits.
Which of the following pairs of cells can br used to make a hybridoma cell?
The fusion of a tumour cell with an antibody-producing plasma cell creates a hybridoma cell.
Which letter, A,B,C or D indicates a mixture of different clones of hybridoma cells on the following diagram?
A shows cells taken from the spleed of the mouse
B shows cancerous plasma cells, "tumor cells"
C shows a mix of different clones of hybridoma cells
D shows clones of a single type of hybridoma cell which are grown to make monoglonal antibodies.
.
Teachers notes
Herceptin is a great place to start this topic. The video chosen on this page comes from Understanding Animal Research This site aims to achieve broad understanding and acceptance of the humane use of animals in biomedical research in the UK, to advance science and medicine.
The details are just great to explain what monoclonal antibodies are and how they are made.
The second activity shows how a pregnancy test works. There are some simple slides and a worksheet to record answers.
Model answers for the worksheets can be found here.
The following sites may be useful for further reading.
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn