Monoclonal antibodies,

Or ‘mAbs’

Aren’t something we can see,

But are quite present in labs.

Inside of our body’s system

We have our own infantry.

You can’t list’em,

All the parts that make up you and me.

One crucial type

Of our body’s defense

Doesn’t get enough hype

And this doesn’t make sense

As they work every day

And through every night

Just so that you can say

‘I feel alright’.

Our immune system’s antibodies

Are what I’m going on about.

They protect us from disease

And other bad things that are acting out.

We make them in many different sizes,

Shapes, and colors.

To see how they protect us from tiny bad guys,

We have to go much smaller.

These Y-shaped proteins

Are like magnets,

Like successful machines

They find where their opposite is at.

This ‘opposite’ is called an antigen.

It is what an antibody binds to

And, again and again,

The pair will remind you

Of a lock and key:

Only one key to one lock.

The epitope is where you’ll see

They fit together, like a foot and sock.

Once they bind, 

This activates the antibody’s mission.

It is inclined

To use it’s ammunition.

This power, 

Hidden in such a small thing

Saves you every hour

From sick suffering.

Here’s an example of the possibility

Of getting very sick.

Our cells always have the ability

To mutate, which can go downhill quick.

Cancer is what you get

When a cell goes rogue

And begins to multiply their set

Where these conspirators collogue

And, though they are undesired,

They remain ignored

By the immune system, but not because it is tired,

But at the cancer it’s not pointed toward.

There are many reasons that this occurs,

But, to say the least,

Cancer can defer

The immune system, the beast.

In the immune system

We have antibodies to help us.

They help make sure we don’t miss’ em,

As the mischievous cancer cells fuss.

Some send out a “Here I am” cry

While others start to directly destroy

The cell they are now attached on to by

Antigens. And still others employ

A long list to other actions,

But one similarity we will always find

Is that once these antibodies find their attraction,

To an antigen, they will bind.

Antagonists stop the passage of the EGF

Or Epidermal Growth Factor, from finding

An antigen, so all that’s left

Is a cell not dividing.

Agonists, on the other hand,

Latch on and kill.

This process is grand,

As lives it saves still.

As death they signal 

To the cell attached,

We observe their cancer-conquering-will

Can hardly be matched.

Another innovation

That has changed this field of study,

Is not some freak mutation.

They are combinations of a drug and antibody.

Antibody-drug conjugates 

Are what they are called

They carry traits

Of antibodies, but with drugs installed

An antibody to find

The cell of cancer,

The drug to secretly hide behind

The antibody as a backup answer.

Once the antibody has

Latched onto its antigen,

The drug begins to act as

It was designed to, but now within

A secret passenger

Delivered right to it

So that destruction doesn’t occur

In healthy cells, for one’s health benefit.

Another form 

Of these fantastic formations

Is breaking the norm

Of crazy creations.

Bispecific antibodies are 

Two in one

A mAb pioneer by far,

They get the job done.

Half and half

A super protein

Cancer-finding is a laugh.

They can bind to two antigens, as labs have seen.

With this dual citizenship

They have a greater probability

Of getting a grip

With their ingenious capability.

Now, cancer cells

Are

Well,

Smart

And can disguise their appearance

As healthy, normal cells, by

Fooling a CTL protein with the adherence

Of a signal that turns away their eyes.

This, friends, is where

Checkpoint inhibitors come in.

They keep the CTL on as they’re

Locating and killing the cancer within.

To get these mAbs,

One must use a certain technique.

One cannot just grab

The antibody. They do something unique.

This is where you make 

A hybridoma

Where you take

A Plasma and some myeloma

And make a 

Monoclonal antibody-producin’

Plasma

For the win!

When you inject

An antigen into a mouse, it

Begins to effect

A white blood cell until it omits

That antibody that answers

What you injected.

This will fight the cancer:

Select it.

Then, you get the plasma

That the B cell became,

And once that is done, the

Plasma is isolated and we’re in the end game.

Put the plasma into

A medium along 

With myeloma cells, new,

That are immortal and strong.

There are five outcomes

Of the fusion that occured

But only one from

The group will cure and endure.

The hybrids between

The plasma and myeloma

Will convene

To make the hybridoma

Only cells with the plasma inside

When set in HAT

Medium will survive

But, there’s a catch to that

Plasma cells can only live

In this for a short while

Before their life they will give

Only the hybrids can go the extra mile

Once these plasma cells

Are made

Success is spelled

If you locate

Them and get them to produce

The necessary antibody so

Your body can use

Them to get the cancer to go.

Getting the necessary

Antibody is

Extremely and very

Crucial to this

Next part where

You make a lot

Of the antibodies. They’re

Now named not

Just ‘antibodies’ but instead

Monoclonal ones.

They’ve changed the med

World, as they’ve had some good runs.

This is how we come across

The magic of these mAbs.

Cancer will soon be at a loss

With the victory these grab