Recent Advances of Monoclonal Antibodies in Immunodiagnosis and Immunotherapy

Dear Colleagues,

The advent of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), made possible by the hybridoma technology in 1975, ushered in a new era for diagnostics and treatment. The precise mechanism of a mAb for recognizing particular antigens and epitopes on the antigens allows the identification of the microorganism that causes an infection whose clinical symptoms are shared by several pathogens. In SARS-CoV-2 pandemics, testing with mAbs has proven to be a valuable tool in blocking the spread of the virus. Qualitative and quantitative analyses are possible with mAbs-identifying tumor markers, cytokines and messenger molecules of inflammation. In vivo diagnostics derive from radiolabeled mAbs or their fragments. The same revolutionary wave happened in the treatment area. Since the first mAb was approved for clinical use 35 years ago, technological developments that enhance the safety and pharmacokinetic profile of mAbs have led to success in the treatment of many diseases and conditions due to target-directed therapy. The first murine mAbs were replaced by chimeric and then fully human mAbs, decreasing their immunogenicity. Human mAbs are products of humanization technologies or of human origin, identified from memory B cells or plasmablasts or from libraries constructed by display technologies, being phage display the most common, or from transgenic animals. MAbs engineering creates non-canonical formats, antibody–drug conjugates, bispecifics, nanobodies, Fc modifications to enhance or reduce effector functions, glycoengineering for better performance.

In this Special Issue, both original research articles and reviews are welcome, and research areas may include (but are not limited to) recent immunotherapeutic drug development, various applications and pharmacokinetic profile of mAbs, antibody–drug conjugates and single chain fragment variables. I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Sandeep Kumar
Guest Editor

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