Monoclonal Antibodies: Diagnostic Uses

Heddy Zola, Child Health Research Institute, Adelaide, Australia
Peter Roberts Thomson, Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide, Australia

Published online: September 2005

DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0004019

Diagnosis of disease depends frequently on the identification, quantitation or localization of particular molecules, cells or organisms in tissue or body fluids. Antibodies, because of their exquisite specificity, are particularly useful reagents in this context, and monoclonal antibodies are often superior to polyclonal mixtures of antibodies. Monoclonal antibodies are used widely in the diagnostic laboratory.

Keywords: antibody; monoclonal; diagnosis; pathology; immunopathology

Figure 1. Schematic representation of an enzyme-linked immunoassay to detect and titrate IgG and IgM antibodies against dengue virus. (Courtesy of Peter Devine, Jody Mitchell and Andrea Cuzzubo, PanBio Pty Ltd.)
Figure 2. Typical application of monoclonal antibody in differential diagnosis in leukaemia. Patterns of fluorescence intensity following FMC-7 staining in three different disease states and in a healthy individual. (a) B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (B-CLL). FMC-7 expression weakly positive. Clinical features: high lymphocyte count, lymphoadenopathy and nonaggressive clinical course. (b) Prolymphocytic leukaemia (PLL). FMC-7 expression strongly positive. Clinical features: enlarged spleen, high lymphocyte count, no lymphadenopathy and aggressive clinical course. (c) Hairy cell leukaemia (HCL). FMC-7 expression strongly positive. Clinical features: enlarged spleen, marrow fibrosis, low white cell count and lymphadenopathy. (d) Healthy individual. FMC-7 expression moderately positive on a normal B-cell population. (Courtesy of Dean Moss and Sean Meehan, AMRAD Biotech Pty Ltd.)
Figure 3. Detection of rhesus D-positive fetal cells in maternal blood. (Courtesy of Dean Moss and Sean Meehan, AMRAD Biotech Pty Ltd.)
Figure 4. Detection of megakaryocytes (brown staining) in bone marrow preparation, using monoclonal antibody against platelet-specific glycoprotein.
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Diagnostics, Therapeutics and Methods | Antibodies
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Article Title: Monoclonal Antibodies: Diagnostic Uses
 
How to Cite close
Zola, Heddy, and Roberts Thomson, Peter(Sep 2005) Monoclonal Antibodies: Diagnostic Uses. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1038/npg.els.0004019]