Applications of Antibodies in Medicines
In medicine, scientists have found many ways to use these antibodies to help people stay healthy:
- Treating Diseases: Antibodies can be used as medicines to target and destroy specific harmful substances in the body, such as cancer cells or disease-causing bacteria.
- Vaccines: Vaccines contain weakened or harmless versions of viruses or bacteria, which help our bodies produce antibodies to fight off those germs. This helps us build immunity against diseases like measles or the flu.
- Diagnostic Tests: Antibodies can also be used in tests to detect if someone has a particular disease. For example, in COVID-19 tests, antibodies help identify if a person has been infected with the virus in the past.
- Targeted Therapy: Some medicines use antibodies to specifically target certain cells in the body, like cancer cells, while leaving healthy cells unharmed. This helps reduce side effects and make treatments more effective.
Antibody – Structure, Functions, and Types
Antibody proteins are Y-shaped proteins that recognize and neutralize pathogens in the immune system. Antibodies play an important role in immune defense. Antibody structure consists of four polypeptide chains—two heavy and two light—and they form a distinctive structure with variable and constant regions.
There are five main types of antibodies: IgM, IgG, IgA, IgD, and IgE, each having a specific role in the immune responses. Antibody functions include recognizing and binding to specific antigens, marking them for destruction or neutralization by the immune system. In this article, we will study antibody structure, function, types, and differences between antibodies and antigens.
Table of Content
- What are Antibodies?
- Structure of the Antibody
- Antibody Diagram
- Antibody Types
- Antibodies Functions
- Production and Mechanism of Action
- Applications of Antibodies in Medicines
- Difference between Antigen and Antibody