Monoclonal antibody

A laboratory-produced population of antibodies whose molecules bind the same specific target. Monoclonality makes its binding properties more uniform than those of a mixed antibody population.

Antibody: A protein made by immune cells that binds a specific molecular target, called an antigen. Monoclonal antibodies are uniform populations of these antigen-binding proteins.
Rituximab: A therapeutic monoclonal antibody that binds CD20 on B cells and is used to treat certain cancers and autoimmune diseases. It exemplifies treatment through selective targeting of a cell-surface protein.
Polyclonal antibody: A mixture of antibodies that recognize multiple sites on the same antigen or different antigens. Unlike a monoclonal population, it contains varied antibody specificities.
Milstein–Köhler hybridoma method: The 1975 technique for generating monoclonal antibodies by fusing B lymphocytes with myeloma cells. It made reproducible production of single-specificity antibodies practical.
Antigen-binding site: The region of an antibody that recognizes and binds a particular part of an antigen. Its structure determines which target a monoclonal antibody can bind.
Trastuzumab: A monoclonal antibody that targets HER2 and is used to treat HER2-positive cancers. It blocks and marks a growth-receptor-bearing cancer cell for treatment.
Bispecific antibody: An engineered antibody designed to bind two distinct targets or epitopes. It combines two binding specificities rather than repeating one.
Humanized antibody: An antibody engineered to retain nonhuman antigen-binding regions within a largely human antibody framework. Humanization reduced immune reactions to many therapeutic antibodies derived from mice.
Hybridoma technology: A method for producing monoclonal antibodies by fusing antibody-producing B cells with immortal myeloma cells. It established a way to grow cells that continually produce one antibody.
Monoclonal antibody therapy: Treatment that uses antibodies engineered or selected to bind particular molecular targets. It is the clinical field built around therapeutic monoclonal antibodies.

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