Revisiting Complement, An Old Friend… (Part 1)
The complement system of the innate immune system has been widely regarded as an early deterrent to infections and a means to clear pathogens by activating a group of proteins that leads to cell lysis, phagocytosis, and inflammation. In addition, the power of complement has been implicated as a mechanism [...]
T’ing it Up for Bi-Specific Antibodies…(Part 2)
In our previous blog, we discussed the two-predominant types of T cells, and some in vitro assays these cells are employed in to test the function and specificity of bi-specific antibodies. In this blog, we discuss the in vivo assays that test the efficacy of these antibodies and tie [...]
T’ing it Up for Bi-Specific Antibodies…(Part 1)
With the current trend of developing immunotherapies for cancer, many of these therapies center on exploiting the potent effector functions of lymphocytes, specifically T cells. In our previous blogs, we introduced a new class of therapeutic molecules called bi-specific antibodies and discussed their mechanism of action for anti-cancer therapy. In [...]
Antibodies with a Split Personality…(Part 3)
In the final part of our series on bi-specific antibodies, we’ll discuss some of the assays that are used to test the specificity, functionality, and safety of bi-specific antibodies. How are bi-specific antibodies tested for antigen specificity? As described in our previous blogs, bi-specific antibodies have the capability to recognize [...]
Antibodies with a Split Personality…(Part 2)
How were bi-specific antibodies initially created? Each individual bivalent, monospecific antibody is composed of two identical heavy chains and two identical light chains, in which a single heavy chain combines with a light chain to create an individual target antigen recognition site. Since there are two antigen binding sites per [...]
Antibodies with a Split Personality…(Part 1)
What is a bi-specific antibody? Bi-specific antibodies are a class of engineered antibodies developed for various oncology indications and autoimmune diseases. Typically, the antigen recognition domains on the tips of the F(ab)2 fragment of a standard antibody are identical and bind the same antigen. In contrast, bi-specific antibodies have different [...]
