Antibodies Diagnostic Tools and Therapeutic Agents

Monoclonal Antibodies Diagnostic Tools and Therapeutic Agents 

Because each B-cell clone produces antibody to a single epitope on an antigen, an opportunity exists for producing chemically and functionally homogeneous antibody in substantial quantity. However, the short B-cell lifetime that is determined by normal apoptosis initially made this impractical. However, the discovery by Kohler and Milstein that B cells could be fused with immortal myeloma cells to create hybridomas that can be maintained almost indef- 

Immunochemical methods have provided and continue to provide the most specific and sensitive analytical 

Immunoassays that detect viral antigens, e.g., various hepatitis viruses, lymphotropic viruses, and HIV, are used to exclude blood from donors who might be capable of transmitting disease because of a prior infection. The presence of antibodies to viral antigens can also determined by immunassay methods to ascertain if an individual might have been previously infected with the virus when the presence of the virus itself cannot be detected. 

---