Antibody monoclonal

Monoclonal antibodies (mAB) are antibodies, i.e. immunologically active proteins, produced by a cell line (cell clone) that originate from a single B lymphocyte and are directed against a single epitope. In contrast, a physiologically (naturally) occurring immune response against an antigen that has invaded the body is always polyclonal and is directed, for example, against many different epitopes on a bacterium. Monoclonal antibodies play a major role in diagnostics and research because they can bind a number of molecules with high specificity. The binding of the antibodies can then be detected using a variety of techniques. This antigen-antibody reaction forms the basis for numerous experimental and diagnostic procedures (e.g. immunophenotyping, FACS / flow cytometry, immunohistology, ELISA, ELISPOT, radioimmunoassay and Western blot). Many of the cell surface antigens of human cells recognized by monoclonal antibodies are classified in the CD nomenclature.