Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Hepatol. Oct 8, 2015; 7(22): 2369-2383
Published online Oct 8, 2015. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v7.i22.2369
Monoclonal antibodies: Principles and applications of immmunodiagnosis and immunotherapy for hepatitis C virus
Ashraf Tabll, Aymn T Abbas, Sherif El-Kafrawy, Ahmed Wahid
Ashraf Tabll, Microbial Biotechnology Department (Biomedical Technology Group), Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Division, National Research Centre, Dokki 12622, Egypt
Aymn T Abbas, Biotechnology Research Laboratories, Gastroeneterology Surgery Centre, Mansoura University, Mansoura 35516, Egypt
Aymn T Abbas, Sherif El-Kafrawy, Special Infectious Agents Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah 22254, Saudi Arabia
Sherif El-Kafrawy, National Liver Institute, Menoufia University, Shebin El-Kom 32511, Egypt
Ahmed Wahid, Biochemistry Department, Molecular and Cellular Biology Unit, Faculty of Pharmacy, Minia University, Minya 11432, Egypt
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally in writing this review article.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interests for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Ashraf Tabll, PhD, Head, Microbial Biotechnology Department (Biomedical Technology Group), Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Division, National Research Centre, El Behoose Street, Dokki 12622, Egypt. ashraf.tabll@yale.edu
Telephone: +20-23-3362609 Fax: +20-23-330931
Received: April 20, 2015
Peer-review started: April 21, 2015
First decision: July 17, 2015
Revised: August 5, 2015
Accepted: September 7, 2015
Article in press: September 8, 2015
Published online: October 8, 2015
Abstract

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major health problem worldwide. Early detection of the infection will help better management of the infected cases. The monoclonal antibodies (mAb) of mice are predominantly used for the immunodiagnosis of several viral, bacterial, and parasitic antigens. Serological detection of HCV antigens and antibodies provide simple and rapid methods of detection but lack sensitivity specially in the window phase between the infection and antibody development. Human mAb are used in the immunotherapy of several blood malignancies, such as lymphoma and leukemia, as well as for autoimmune diseases. In this review article, we will discuss methods of mouse and human monoclonal antibody production. We will demonstrate the role of mouse mAb in the detection of HCV antigens as rapid and sensitive immunodiagnostic assays for the detection of HCV, which is a major health problem throughout the world, particularly in Egypt. We will discuss the value of HCV-neutralizing antibodies and their roles in the immunotherapy of HCV infections and in HCV vaccine development. We will also discuss the different mechanisms by which the virus escape the effect of neutralizing mAb. Finally, we will discuss available and new trends to produce antibodies, such as egg yolk-based antibodies (IgY), production in transgenic plants, and the synthetic antibody mimics approach.

Keywords: Hepatitis C virus, Monoclonal antibodies, Immunodiagnosis, Immunotherapy

Core tip: The monoclonal antibodies (mAb) of mice are predominantly used for the immunodiagnosis of several viral, bacterial, and parasitic antigens. Human mAb are used in the immunotherapy of several blood malignancies, such as lymphoma and leukemia, as well as for autoimmune diseases. In this review, we discuss methods of mouse and human monoclonal antibody production. We will demonstrate the role of mouse mAb in the detection of hepatitis C virus (HCV) antigens as rapid and sensitive immunodiagnostic assays. We will also discuss the role of HCV-neutralizing antibodies in the immunotherapy of HCV infections and in HCV vaccine development.