Antibodies

Question: antibodies? Is it possible to have bacteria produce a lot of recombinant antibodies at once? If so, what would be needed to be done to make it do that?

Answer: bacteria can be made to produce any protein that you want, including antibodies. the possible problems with using bacteria to produce antibodies are twofold: 1. the protein folding machinery for bacteria is not the same as in mammalian cells, so the antibody protein may not be folded properly. 2. bacteria do not glycosylate their proteins (add sugar sidechains), and antibodies are often highly glycosylated (depending on the isotype). the sugars can play important roles in uptake and complement deposition. so, depending on what you need your antibodies for, this may or may not work. what is typically done to produce lots of antibodies is to fuse the lymphocytes from an immune spleen with immortalized tumor cells (which makes the antibody-producing B cells live forever), and clone and screen for you immortal B cell of interest, which will continue to divide and produce antibodies until you let it die.

Question: How might these antibodies influence the chemical reactions controlled by the enzymes? Some antibodies act by binding to certain essential enzymes in the target bacteria. (a)how might these antibiotics influence the chemical reactions controlled by the enzymes? (b) What is the anticipated effect on the bacteria? On the person taking the antibiotic prescription?

Answer: I think you mean antibiotics and not antibodies? Both based on context and because antibodies would not penetrate bacterial cells and actually get to essential enzymes. (a) All the antibiotics I can think of that bind to essential enzymes inhibit their activity. E.g. penicillin inhibiting transpeptidase, fluoroquinolones inhibiting DNA gyrase, Bactrim inhibiting dihydropteroate synthase and dihydrofolate reductase. (b) The anticipated effect is either killing the bacteria (bactericial antibiotics) or stopping their growth so that the immune system can clear them easily (bacteriostatic antibiotics). The anticipated effect on the person taking the antibiotics is to make a clinical recovery from the bacterial infection.

Question: Can you transmit antibodies to certain illnesses through the blood? My husband and I were discussing whether it would be possible to transmit antibodies through blood. Say he had an illness that he recovered from, then his blood would contain the antibodies for that sickness, right? So if I received his blood through a blood transfusion (assuming we're the same blood type) would I automatically have those antibodies and therefore be unable to get that sickness? This is all hypothetical, of course. We're not planning on transferring blood to each other or anything. :)

Answer: It is possible, and it's called passive artificial immunity. The problem is that his antibodies would not be in high enough concentration (they also would not last very long). That's why horses are generally used to isolate antibodies- they can be bled more easily to get a decent amount of antibodies once purified. Passive natural immunity is similar; antibodies pass through the placenta, so a mother can pass on some degree of immunity to a fetus.

Question: When a B-lymphocyte cell produced antibodies, are the antibodies produced on the surface or released? How is a B Lymphocyte activated? What causes the B Lymphocyte to release the antibody? Do some Antibodies stay on the B Lymphocyte's surface (my textbook says there are antibodies on its surface to activate it) Then how does Phagocytosis happen? Do the phagocytes have antigen receptors or antibody receptors?

Answer: Hiya, Looks like ur kinda desperate. Okay well ill try my best. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ a)A typical human B cell will have 50,000 to 100,000 antibodies bound to its surface. This means that antibodies are on the surface. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ b)Any given antigen can lead to the activation of many different B-cells and the production of many different antibodies, all directed against different portions of the same target. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ c)Yes, antibodies stay on the B Lymphocytes surface. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ d) For this question you need the definition of phagocytosis. Then we'll slowly move through how it happens etc. *Phagocytosis is a process which is used by cells to engulf and subsequently ingest particles of nutrients or bacteria. This process is a very important part of cell function, allowing cells to grab vital nutrients and allowing the body to protect itself from harmful bacteria. A cell which specializes in phagocytosis is known as a phagocyte. Now we'll move on to the process of phagocytosis. A cell deforms its membrane to form a little cone around the piece of material which is to be absorbed, and then it closes the sides of the cone, hugging the particle in the cell membrane to create what is known as a phagosome or food vacuole, like a little envelope of material surrounded by the cell membrane. The phagosome, in turn, is passed into the cell for absorption by the lysosomes, the cell structures which specialize in digesting materials which enter the cell. The lysosomes break the phagosome down into its component materials, passing useful compounds on to other structures in the cell and expelling the rest as waste material. In the case of some infectious or harmful material, the phagosome may enter a peroxisome, a special cell structure which helps to rid the body of toxins. Phagocyte has many types of receptors on its surface that are used to bind material. They include opsonin receptors, scavenger receptors, and Toll-like receptors. Opsonin receptors increase the phagocytosis of bacteria that have been coated with immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies or with complement. "Complement" is the name given to a complex series of protein molecules found in the blood that destroy cells or mark them for destruction. Scavenger receptors bind to a large range of molecules on the surface of bacterial cells, and Toll-like receptors—so called because of their similarity to well-studied receptors in fruit flies that are encoded by the Toll gene—bind to more specific molecules. Binding to Toll-like receptors increases phagocytosis and causes the phagocyte to release a group of hormones that cause inflammation. SO I THINK WE CAN SAFELY SAY THAT PHAGOCYTES HAVE ANTIBODY RECEPTORS. I hope i helped and made this very clear. I learnt a thing or two meself <3

Question: Antibodies are usually made in a mouse or rabbit, how do you make a human antibody? For instance most antibodies are mouse monoclonal, but what is a human antibody, and how do you block a human antibody when used on human tissue. This is usually done in research

Answer: it must be extracted from the blood. Antibodies are gamma globulin proteins that are found in blood or other bodily fluids of vertebrates, and are used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects, such as bacteria and viruses.

Question: Can Antibodies be manufactured to attach to specific cancer cells? My question is this. The immune system normally does not produce antibodies against cancer cells because it does not consider these cells to be "foreign", but what if you take a cancer cell from a human and inject it into a mouse. Would the mouse's immune system produce an antibody to attack it since the cancer cell is "foreign" in this case? Thanks!

Answer: Yes! And those antibodies can then be collected and purified, and injected back into the patient the original tumor came from. Research is being done on such immunological approaches to cancer treatment in several institutions.

Question: When your body makes antibodies to a virus, does it ever stop making those antibodies? If your body got rid of a virus would you keep having antibodies made, and is this how vaccines work? Does the immune system continuously make antibodies, even for viral infections that never go away?

Answer: Yes, you continuously renew making antibodies but just not as many as needed to fight an infection. Once you have cleared the infection, the body incorporates the "template" into it's main blue print so it can make more when needed. The problem with making antibodies to fight a virus is that viruses constantly evolve and adapt causing the body to have to constantly change the types of "antibodies" it produces. The key to fighting viruses is to stop them before they can change and mutate. There are a few anti-virals that are available by prescription and most of them are to fight the hundreds of "Flu" viruses that are out there. HIV is also a virus (a retro virus) and there are many medication combinations to attack this disease. On a side note, The flu shot that is recommended for everyone only treats a few varieties of the flu. The CDC uses demographic details and creates an "educated" guess as to what varieties are most likely to hit the USA each year. Protection is your best bet at Prevention!

Question: How does the first immune response occur if antibodies are antigen specific? If antibodies are antigen specific, during a first immune response (ie. the body has not been infected by this bacteria before) how can antibodies bind to the bacteria? How would they recognise them? Are some antibodies not antigen specific or can macrophages/B-cells digest them without antibodies binding?

Answer: The binding of antibodies to antigen only occurs after the host cell has been infected before; this is called adaptive immunity. On the other hand, if it is a bacteria that the body has never experienced before, it goes through the following steps (a.k.a. the first immune response): Every cell in the body that belongs to you has a "self" antigen, this is essentially the "ID card" that tells the macrophages, lymphocytes, and B-Cells that they belong to the body, and should be left alone. All other foreign bacteria do not have this "self" antigen, and are thus immediately identified by the macrophages as foreign and likely dangerous. A macrophage that detects this foreign antigen will engulf the bacteria through phagocytosis (or basically "eating it"), then subsequently display the foreign antigen that belongs to the bacteria. The macrophages present this antigen on its surface membrane (if you're looking for specific term, it's called the MHC II molecule). When the antigen is presented on the macrophage, this gets immediately detected by helper T-cells. Now, you must be wondering, how does the helper T-cell detect this antigen? Unlike the macrophages, the helper T-cell does not know whether or not it is foreign, however, are are billions and billions ( roughly 10^18, that's a 1 with eighteen zeros) of variations of T-cells, each with a small variation that will recognize a specific antigen presented by the macrophage. The odds are that there will be at least one T-cell that has the same antigen receptor as the foreign bacteria. Once a T-cell recognizes the antigen, the T-cells then stimulate B-cells (and also killer T-cells) to massively duplicate through mitosis. The B-cells then produce large amounts of antibodies, which can then bind to the antigen on the foreign bacteria. Thus, the massive amount of antibodies will bind onto a large percentage of the bacteria. This allows the macrophages to more easily identify the bacteria, and letting it more easily kill the bacteria through phagocytosis. As the body begins to fight the infection, a new set of cells called memory B-cells are also created. These cells, as you have mentioned, produce antigen specific antibodies, so the next time the body gets infected with this bacteria, it can initiate a much more coordinated and powerful response to kill the bacterium immediately. This is what forms "adaptive immunity".

Question: Antibodies to A and B blood antigens without having a transfusion? I have a question! Individuals may have antibodies to the A and B blood antigens not found on their red blood cells. What is the origin on these antibodies in someone who has never had a transfusion?

Answer: It is most likely that the mothers were sensitized from earlier pregnancy and produced HLA antibodies against the daughters' paternally derived HLA antigens.

Question: How can antibodies produced by our immune system handle/fight viruses while antibiotics can't? If antibodies can fight viruses, why can't learn from those antibodies and produce antibiotics to fight viruses? I know that an antibiotic kills bacteria by damaging its cell-wall etc. How exactly does an antibody kill a virus?

Answer: There are four ways, so to speak. Opsonisation, neutralisation, agglutination and lysis are conducted by different antibodies. Opsonins (opsonisation) are antibodies that bind to antigens on the outer surface which enables phagocytes to recognise the microorganism and destroy it. Antitoxins (neutralisations) bind to toxins produced by micoorganisms rendering them harmless to the body. Agglutinins are antibodies that bind to antigens, causing the microorganisms to clump together. Thus, microorganisms cannot enter the host cells to reproduce. Lysins (lysis) are antibodies that bind to the antigens of a microorganisms causing them to rupture or disintegrate. I'm not sure what your first question means. Antibiotics do handle viruses, pretty darn well at that, so, I don't see what your question could mean.

Question: How long does it take for a cat to develop antibodies after the rabies shot? Essentially, what the title says. How long does it take to create antibodies after the rabies shot? We want it to be healthy so the cat can fly across the ocean. (in a plane)

Answer: You should ask your vet this question. As to traveling to another country with a cat - Are you taking the cat into the cabin with you or shipping it as cargo? I would never ship a cat as cargo and I have flown with cats in the cabin but some countries, I believe the UK is one, require that all animals travel in the cargo area. You need to check on that sort of thing. You will need to contact an Embassy of the country to which you are traveling and get the full information on their requirements. There may be a quarantine which the cat will have to undergo. Some quarantine times can be as long as 3 months and you have to pay for it. Do a Google search on the country to which you are traveling and the word embassy There may be a page on the country's web site which will tell you the requirements to bring a cat into the country. Even if the web site has that information, I would check the pages found by that search for a contact telephone number of an Embassy of the country you are traveling to and call and ask them for all their requirements to see if they have changed since the web page was last updated. Also check on the requirements to bring the cat back to the USA. You will probably need, at a minimum, a health certificate stating that your cat is up-to-date with all vaccinations - particularly rabies. You will need this certificate not only overseas, but probably when you check in with the cat at the airport - I have always needed one when checking in. The cat will have to fit in a carrier which will fit under the seat in front of you. Soft sided carriers are usually the only ones that will fit. The cat will have to remain in the carrier the entire flight. Get incontinence pads and put several of them on the bottom of the carrier. When - not if - the cat urinates or defecates, you can pull out the soiled pad and put it in a trash bag. Ask the flight attendants where to dispose of the bag - think of it like a soiled baby diaper. Get a good harness for the cat - use a small dog harness. Most cat harnesses are simply figure-8 straps which can tighten around the cat's throat and choke them. Also get a good leash. I take the cat out of their carrier - with harness on and the leash attached - and send the carrier through the x-ray machine with the rest of my carry on luggage - keep it to a minimum since you have the cat carrier to deal with. I walk the cat through the metal detector and then put the cat back in the carrier. I don't know the strength of the x-ray machines so I don't send the cat through them. Have the cat's harness on before you leave home. Anytime you are taking it out of the carrier, attach the leash. You don't want to be chasing a spooked cat around an airport. As to food and water - how long is the flight and how long will it be from the time you leave home until you get somewhere that you can let the cat out of the carrier and feed it? Depending upon that length of time - you may want to just have the cat fast rather than try to give it food and water in a carrier or in an airport while you wait for the flight or a possible transfer to another flight. Have you gotten the ticket for the cat to go into the cabin with you? Some airlines limit the number of animals in the cabin on some flights, so be sure you can get the cat a ticket on your flight. SO -- - get the exact requirements from the Embassy of the country to which you are traveling. - get a health certificate from the vet stating that the cat is healthy, has no contagious diseases, and is totally up to date on all vaccinations. - get a soft sided carrier - get a good harness and leash - get incontinence pads for the bottom of the carrier and perhaps to set out if you let the cat out of the carrier between flights (if you are doing any transferring, that is) - don't carry on a lot of other luggage. Ideally don't take anything more than the carrier and a small bag with your necessities and supplies for the cat - more pads, trash bags, paper towels, maybe a food and water bowl and food if you think you will have a chance to feed them, and anything else you can think of. - double check everything! - triple check everything! You don't want any surprises when you go through customs in the other country. Again - some countries require lengthy quarantine periods for any animals coming into the country - double check on this. I advise against using a sedative for the cat. It probably won't be needed and remember that you will be traveling at high altitudes and even though the plane is pressurized, it will not be the same as sea level air pressure - it will be lower air pressure. Cats and sedatives react differently at higher altitudes. Good luck

Question: How beneficial is Breastfeeding past 1 year in terms of antibodies and immunity? Hi everyone. My baby is 16 months old and I am still breastfeeding a couple of times during the day. He would get like 6 - 7 ounces a day. Is it still protective of his health through the antibodies. The reason I am asking it, I will have to go on an international flight of 11 hours to Turkey. And unfortunately I do not have the peace of mind because of this swine flu threat. Would you suggest I increase the milk supply through pumping to give him better protection against virus or bacteria? Thanks for your answers...

Answer: After 6 months the baby will start producing his/her own antibodies. But breastfeeding is still fine and long as you are still avoiding toxic foods.

Question: Does the body ever produce antibodies to a virus when it is actually infected with another virus? Can increased number of antibodies to a specific virus, as shown in blood tests, ever mean that the body is infected with something else? So far i have heard that antibodies are specific and each virus has its own antibodies, but i want to make sure

Answer: Antibodies are indeed specific and are directed only against the virus that induced their synthesis.

Question: What's the difference between the B-cell receptor and antibodies? I don't understand what B-cell receptors are, and how they relate to antibodies. Do they have a similar structure? Are they one and the same?

Answer: The B-cell receptor is a transmembrane receptor protein located on the outer surface of B-cells. The receptor's binding moiety is composed of a membrane-bound antibody that, like all antibodies, has a unique and randomly-determined antigen-binding site. When a B-cell is activated by its first encounter with an antigen that binds to its receptor (its "cognate antigen"), the cell proliferates and differentiates to generate a population of antibody-secreting plasma B cells and memory B cells.

Question: What are the disadvantages of using antibodies in immunofluorescence? the question above or you could say the source of errors in using antibodies in immunofluorescence and also the most common one!!! this is in immunology

Answer: Antibodies are substrate specific, but not necessarily site specific. That is, antibodies are huge. It like trying to probe a forest for a specific tree by using a probe the size of a train. Sure you get the tree, but are you hitting the top of the tree or the stem?? On top of that, most immunoblotting techniques require using 2 antibodies, antibody 1 identifies the target, and antibody 2 is used to identify antibody 1 and antibody 2 is the one that fluoresces. Biggest source of error is size, or molecular weight related.

Question: Do antibodies do any thing else apart from attaching themselves to the antigen? Two of my text books are contradicting each other :( One says that antibodies only attach themselves to the antigen to make it easier for the lymphocytes to find them, whereas the other says that they do alot more (destroy the cell wall, neutralise toxins & cover active site to prevent damage to the body) Which is correct? Thanks!

Answer: Not sure about destroying a cell wall, but the other functions can certainly be accomplished just by having an antibody attaching itself. > neutralise toxins Yup. With antibodies attached to the toxin, it can't interact with other things > cover active site Yup. With antibodies attached near the active site, the active site can't interact with other things (that's "steric hindrance" for you).