Humanized Antibodies. Modern Developments and Prospects for the Creation of Medical Protectors Against Biological Threads and Hazards

Abstract

Passive immunization is the variant of the immunization, in which antibodies are introduced into the body in quantities, sufficient to provide a therapeutic effect. One of the «windows of opportunity» for passive immunization is an urgent post-exposure prophylaxis of infectious diseases and their preventive therapy, especially in the absence of chemotherapy drugs suitable for these purposes or their insufficient effectiveness. The existing heterologous drugs based on hyperimmune sera are highly reactogenic, and obtaining donor human immunoglobulins is associated with a number of ethical and technical restrictions. Therefore, biotechnologies that make it possible to obtain, on an industrial scale, low-reactogenic preparations of chimeric monoclonal antibodies with partially human specificity, as well as recombinant antibodies with fully human specificity, have enormous prospects. This trend is called «humanization of antibodies.» The purpose of this article is to analyze modern developments and to show the prospects for creating humanized antibodies specific to antigens of pathogens of especially dangerous infections and toxins as medical biological protection agents. The sources of the research are English-language studies and the scientific literature available via the Internet. The research method is an analysis of scientific sources on the topic being studied from the general to the specific. Results and discussion. The history of the creation of specific prevention drugs based on heterologous and homologous sera/immunoglobulins and monoclonal antibodies is presented. It has been shown in the article, that humanized specific monoclonal antibodies are widely used currently for the treatment of a number of severe chronic diseases (for example, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, immunoinflammatory bowel diseases, malignant tumors). Conclusion. Recently, there has been an increase in numbers of both scientific research and developments, and drugs of recombinant antibodies already approved for use in clinical practice, specific to antigens of pathogens of especially dangerous infections and toxins - potential agents of bioterrorism, such as the anthrax microbe, botulinum toxins of various types, plant toxins ricin and abrin, ebolaviruses, coronaviruses. Such drugs can also be used as medical protectors against biological threats and hazards.

Keywords

• immunity
• monoclonal antibodies
• passive immunity
• heterologous drugs
• humanization
• toxins