Methods and compositions for the production of monoclonal antibodies

Abstract

The present invention comprises compositions and methods for making monoclonal antibodies. The present invention further comprises vectors that replicate the immune system components, particularly an antigen-presenting cell (APC) element of the immune synapse. Additionally, the present invention may further comprise synthetic T-cells.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60 / 526,360 filed Dec. 2, 2003.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates generally to immunology. The present invention further relates to methods and compositions for the production of monoclonal antibodies and in vitro methods for production of such antibodies. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] The introduction of desired agents into specific target cells has been a challenge to scientists for a long time. The challenge of specific targeting of agents is to get an adequate amount of the agent or the correct agent to the target cells of an organism without providing too much exposure of the rest of the organism. A very desired target for delivery of specific agents is the immune system. The immune system is a complex response system of the body that involves many different kinds of cells that have differing activities. Activation of one portion of th...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention is about creating specific antibodies that can target specific antigens. It involves using vectors that mimic the structure and function of cells in the immune system. These vectors can be used to activate T-cells and help B-cells produce antibodies. The invention also includes methods for making these vector compositions and treating immune-related diseases and pathologies. Overall, the invention provides a way to better understand and target the immune system for research and therapeutic purposes."

Problems solved by technology

The introduction of desired agents into specific target cells has been a challenge to scientists for a long time.

The challenge of specific targeting of agents is to get an adequate amount of the agent or the correct agent to the target cells of an organism without providing too much exposure of the rest of the organism.

Activation of one portion of the immune system usually causes a variety of responses due to unwanted activation of other related portions of the system.

Currently, there are no satisfactory methods or compositions for producing a specifically desired response by targeting the specific components of the immune system.

Unfortunately, the development of therapeutic products based on these proteins has been limited because of problems that are inherent in monoclonal antibody therapy.

For example, most monoclonal antibodies are mouse derived and, thus, do not fix human complement well.

They also lack other important immunoglobulin functional characteristics when used in humans.

The biggest drawback to the use of monoclonal antibodies is the fact that nonhuman monoclonal antibodies are immunogenic when injected into a human patient.

Unfortunately, once the immune system is primed to respond to foreign antibodies, later treatments with the same or different nonhuman antibodies can be ineffective or even dangerous.

Use of murine antibodies in a patient is generally limited to a term of days or weeks.

Longer treatment periods may result in anaphylaxis.

Moreover, once HAMA has developed in a patient, it often prevents the future use of murine antibodies for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes.

In practice, simply substituting murine CDRs for human CDRs is not sufficient to generate efficacious humanized antibodies retaining the specificity of the original murine antibody.

It is the presence of these murine antibody residues that helps create a HACA response in the patient, leading to rapid clearance of the monoclonal antibodies and the fear of anaphylaxis.

Again, these antibodies suffer from the problem of being antigenic due to their mouse origins.

However, these Mabs are still foreign proteins to the immune system of the patient and evoke an immune response.

Therefore, this approach is not useful to produce Mabs against antigens that are human proteins.

Again, this technique lacks antigen specificity.

Thus, this technique may require considerable engineering to increase antibody affinities to useful levels.

All of the current technologies for producing human or human-like Mabs are insufficient to provide a species-specific antibody that is antigen specific for a described antigen.

However, the murine variable regions of these chimeric antibodies can still elicit a HAMA response, thereby limiting the value of chimeric antibodies as diagnostic and therapeutic agents.

Some attenuated vaccines have a limited shelf-life and cannot withstand storage in tropical environments.

There is also a possibility that the vaccine will revert to the virulent wild-type of the organism, causing harmful, even life-threatening, illness.

However, they are less effective than the live attenuated vaccines, usually requiring more than one dose.

Additionally, they do not provide for person-to-person passage among members of the population.

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