M A B

Find out how Frances and her cousin Elsie meet the fairies and Queen Mab of Collingley Glen. And have they kept their promise to Queen Mab?

Monoclonal Antibodies: A Practical Approach covers the preparation, testing, derivation, and applications of monoclonal antibodies. New immunological techniques incorporating tried and tested methodologies are described, making the book of interest to established and inexperienced immunologists. Both the standard somatic hybridization technique and recombinant techniques, including the use of phage libraries, for the preparation of rodent and human monoclonal antibodies are described. Protocols for both the small and large scale production are detailed, as well as purification and labelling (with both radioisotopes and non-radioisotopes) methods. The applications of monoclonal antibodies in immunoblotting, enzyme linked immunoassays, immunofluorescence, and FACS analysis are all covered in detail. Finally protocols are given for the use of monoclonal antibodies in rheumatoid arthritis, tissue typing, detecting DNA modified during chemotherapy, and in the clinical analysis of transplantation samples for malignancy. This book will therefore be an invaluable laboratory companion to anyone using monoclonal antibodies in their research.

Nuclear Localization of Growth Factors and of Monoclonal Antibodies focuses on how an additional class of chromatin receptors is directly involved in mediation of the action of growth factors on the gene regulation level. The book describes a new intracellular pathway of growth factors and presents methods for identifying nuclear antigens with an epitopic homology of the cell surface antigens. It teaches how to distinguish monoclonal antibodies that penetrate the cell and localize in the nucleus from those that act only on the cell surface. New light is shed on the mechanisms of malignant transformation, and new approaches to developing anti-cancer and anti-HIV drugs are covered. The book will be important for oncologists, biochemists, cell biologists, pharmaceutical researchers, investigative pathologists, neurochemists, and immunologists.

The advent of hybridoma technology leading to the successful produc tion of monoclonal antibodies against a variety of tumor-associated antigens has, during the last decade, provided a very powerful tool for research and clinical investigations. These highly specific reagents have essentially replaced the polysera of the earlier days. The successful demonstration of the many wide ranging capabilities of the monoclonal antibody technique has already begun to exert an enormous impact on diverse areas of research in basic science and medicine. In particular, the potential of monoclonal antibodies to serve as carriers for selective targeting of radionuclides to tumors for diagnosis or therapy, has stimulated an intense surge of research interest and even revived hopes of realizing Ehrlich's concept of the "magic bullet". Indeed, the technology appears to be on the threshold of a revolution in diagnosing and treating malignant disease. Much work remains to be done, however, and even though the progress has been impressive, results to date have shown only moderate success. There is no question that the limited success we have achieved thus far is merely a prelude to the many more exciting developments yet to come.

The purpose of this book is to provide information which supports the fact that rat hybridomas are no more difficult to develop than mouse hybridomas. This is the first book devoted to the development of rat hybridomas. It includes theories, step-by-step techniques, ingredients and apparatus. The focus of this work is on the antibody repertoire, the unique biological properties of rat immunoglobulins, the one-step purification procedure by immunoaffinity chromatography, the absence of C-type particles, and the easy production of large amounts of ascitic fluid containing rat MAb. This rare publication is an absolute must for all scientists using MAbs and those interested in the fields of immunology, biotechnology, and biochemistry.

This new and important international source of information beings together leading-edge research dedicated to monoclonal antibodies. Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) are: antibodies of exceptional purity and specificity; components of the immune system; able to recognise and bind to a specific antigen. Monoclonal antibodies are currently utilised in many diagnostic procedures, including: measuring protein and drug levels in serum; typing tissue and blood; identifying infectious agents; identifying clusters of differentiation for the classification and follow-up therapy of leukaemias and lymphomas; identifying tumour antigens and auto-antibodies; identifying the specific cells involved in the immune response; identifying and quantifying hormones. For example, monoclonal antibodies (MABs or MOABs) work on cancer cells in the same way natural antibodies work, by identifying and binding to the target cells. They then alert other cells in the immune system to the presence of the cancer cells. MABs are specific for a particular antigen-one designed for a B-cell lymphoma will not work on cells for ovarian cancer cells for example.

Monoclonal antibodies are one of the most exciting developments in biotechnology in recent years; this book provides a comprehensive description of principles, methodologies and applications of this powerful technology to modern science and industry.

Critical Analysis of Monoclonal Antibody Therapy in Transplantation provides a critical analysis of monoclonal antibody therapies in transplantation. The book presents diverse approaches to monoclonal antibody therapy in transplantation and addresses some of the serious obstacles that remain both in understanding these mechanisms and in successfully applying them in clinical situations. The background and rationale for OKT3 therapy are examined and an extensive clinical experience with OKT3 induction therapy in cardiac transplantation is reviewed. The book also examines the background and rationale for the use of anti-TcR (??), anti-IL-2R, and anti-LFA-1 monoclonal antibodies in clinical transplantations. Other topics include the use of monclonal antibodies to CD4 and CD8 for the induction of adult transplantation tolerance in rodents and the possibilities for applying anti-idiotypical strategies that have proven useful in autoimmunity models to transplant recipients. Researchers and basic scientists involved in this field will find the book a fascinating and useful resource for their investigations.