| TECHNOLOGY |
Passive immunization in which large amount of Ab is administered to patient to curb the cocaine high.
The cocaine molecule itself does not induce immunity because it's too small to be recognized as an immunogen. So to make passive immunity Ab, the author et al used protein conjugates of cocaine deriv to induce an immune response in mice. The mouse immune system recognizes these conjugates as antigenic substances. "It's basically like painting a bull's eye on the drug".
The cocaine deriv, or haptens, are first coupled to a carrier protein & the resulting conjugates are used to immunize the mice. Murine spleen cells are then fused with myeloma (cancer) cells to "immortalize" them (make them reproducible) & hence facilitate the production of cocaine-binding Ab. The researchers carry out cloning experiments to determine which Ab bind cocaine best, & the best binders (in the form of Ab fragments) are selected & isolated. Unfortunately, mouse Ab elicit a "bad" immunological response in humans that limit their use, so the researchers "humanize" the mouse Ab fragments - that is, they modify them to make them more humanlike.
The researchers have identified a specific humanized Ab fragment that they would like to test as a potential passive immunity treat., & they are currently trying to overexpress those fragments in a plant system
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