23 Aug 2021
Setting it Straight: The monoclonal antibody story part 2: One cell, one antibody and a felicitous fusion
Any antigen-specific (adaptive) immune response is polyclonal, with a spectrum of cell-surface receptor molecules attaching, perhaps in slightly different configurations, to the same molecular structure (#18, #20, #34 and #40). With COVID-19, at least so far as the B cell lineage is concerned, the structure of interest is the receptor binding domain (RBD) on the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein that attaches to the ACE2 molecule on the surface of epithelial cells. Block that with virus specific immunoglobulin (Ig, antibody), and the virus can’t get into cells and start reproducing itself.