Monoclonal antibodies chimaeric

Table 10.8. Some actual/potential medical applications of monoclonal antibodies (other than those relating to cancer). In many instances, these applications will entail use of chimaeric or humanized antibodies or antibody fragments...

Hagberg H, Lundhohn L. Rituximab, a chimaeric anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, in the treatment of hairy cell leukaemia. Br J Haematol 2001 115(3) 609-11. 

Figure 13.9 Production of chimaeric (a) and humanized (b) antibodies (via recombinant DNA technology). Chimaeric antibodies consist of murine monoclonal VH and VL domains grafted onto the Fc region of a human antibody. Humanized antibody consists of murine CDR regions grafted into a human antibody...

When compared with human monoclonals (half-life 14-21 days), murine monoclonals administered to humans display a relatively short half-life (30-40 h). Chimaerization increased serum half-life by fivefold, with typical values of 230 h being recorded (Table 13.4). A prolonged half-life is desirable if the antibody is to be used therapeutically, as it decreases the required frequency of product administration. Chimaeric antibodies also allow activation of Fc-mediated functions (e.g. activation of complement, etc.), as this domain displays human sequence. 

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