IMMUNOSCREENING PROTOCOLS FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF CLINICALLY USEFUL ANTIBODIES AND ANTIGENS

The antigen-antibody interaction is a powerful tool for the immunoscreening of several diseases, including cancer and genetic disorders. The high specificity of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) enables them to target antigens and form complexes that can be detected with enzymes, radionuclides, fluorescent dyes or other markers. The antibody molecule, which has an antigen binding site, can be used as an intact molecule or as a fragment, for example, F(ab)2, Fab, Fv or scFv. Similarly, the antigen can also be varied. In this review, immunoscreening techniques that can be used to detect clinically relevant antibody-antigen interactions will be discussed.