Team:SDU-Denmark/Tour20
The antibody issue
As mentioned in the introduction, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are frequently used for numerous purposes in research and in medical aspects and the demand is continuously growing. The production market is exponentially rising. Kohler and Milstein initiated the current era of mAbs production by invention of the hybridoma technology back in 1975.
Reference:
Liu JK1. The history of monoclonal antibody development - Progress, remaining challenges and future innovations. 2014 Sep 11;3(4):113-6.
DOI: 10.1016/j.amsu.2014.09.001.
[PubMed]
The ability to perform post-translational modifications (PTM), especially N-glycosylation resulting in avoidance of the human immune system (immunogenecity), prompts the use of mammalian cells. However the use of mammalian cells holds some drawbacks. Mammalian cells are, compared to bacterial cells cumbersome to work with, they need serum. difficult to scale-up because of their sensitivity to shear stress.
In general it may cost between $4,000 - $30,000 to develop and produce monoclonal antibody in animals. Reference: Immunochemistry Technologies (Link) The mice are immunized often either intraperitonealt and/or subcutaenous with a certain antigen, throug a continuar