Cloning Gone Right

It’s October, and that means it is spooky season and what better way to get in the spirit than discussing man-made antibodies?! I know it sounds totally wild, but it is actually an extremely awesome technique. What are these antibodies? Well, the technical term is monoclonal antibodies. They are used to help individuals with autoimmune diseases that attack normal human tissues. These antibodies attach only one specific type antigen. So how are they made? Human genes are extracted and put into test animals, and these animals are vaccinated. These animals are vaccinated for one particular antigen, this way the body will ideally produce the antibody of the scientist’s desires, and through this process, that is exactly what happens. One example of monoclonal antibodies is rituximab, which is a monoclonal antibody that helps with rheumatoid arthritis and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Rituximab serves different purposes depending on what kind of disease it is trying to get rid of in a given individual. In B-cell non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, majority of the B cells contain CD20 receptors on the surface of the cell, therefore rituximab’s job in these cases is to bind to the CD20. This binding helps stop the growth of tumor cells by lysing the cell. In cases of rheumatoid arthritis, however this drug helps the individual by reducing the amount of B-cells present in the body, thereby diminishing an inflammatory response. As described, this drug is cytolytic.

This drug seems great an all, and not to be a negative Nelly, but nothing in life is THAT simple. Unfortunately, in this case my pessimism is necessary, and there is a long list of side effects this drug and cause, all listed below. A whopping 80% of people who take this drug experience some of these side effects, varying in severity.

• Nausea
• Hives
• Fatigue
• Headache
• Itching
• Bronchospasm
• Swelling of tongue or throat
• Runny nose
• Vomitting
• Decreased blood pressure
• Flushing
• Pain at site
• Infusion reactions
• Tumor lysis syndrome
• Severe mucocutaneous reactions
• Progressive multifocal Leukoencephalopathy
• Hepatitus B Virus reactivation
• Infections – bacterial, fungal, viral
• Cardiac arrhythmias
• Renal toxicity
• Bowel obstruction and perforation

This drug does not make you susceptible to other disease infections just by taking it. However infections such as tumor lysis syndrome, mucocutaneous reactions and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy can occur as side effects. Those advised not to take this drug are pregnant women or nursing moms, kids, and elderly people. Research does not show whether or not this drug helps or harms the immune system at this time, but if I had to take a wild guess, I would think the innate immune response would be the most effected because a random antibody is placed in the genome that was not previously there, which could cause some issues.

Monoclonal antibodies could be a huge help to those with autoimmune disorders in the future!