What happens in the brain during a migraine? And what medications can be used to treat it?
Migraine is many things, but one thing it's not is "just a headache."
12 hours ago
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Migraine is many things, but one thing it's not is "just a headache."
12 hours ago
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Monoclonal antibodies have become indispensable in medicine to combat cancers, infectious diseases and autoimmune disorders. But the mechanism of action of a major monoclonal antibody developed for ulcerative colitis has ...
Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have revolutionized cancer therapy due to their ability to specifically target tumor cells while sparing healthy ones. These biologics have become indispensable in treating various cancers, offering ...
Jul 22, 2024
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A research team at Georgia State University has developed tiny, potent molecules that are capable of targeting hidden strains of HIV. The source? Antibody genes from llama DNA.
Jul 17, 2024
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For patients experiencing migraine, direct calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) inhibition with monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) is associated with reduced rates of acne and rosacea compared with no inhibition (topiramate) ...
Jul 17, 2024
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A medical mystery served as the genesis for a Yale-led study that has promising implications for treating a range of autoimmune diseases.
Jul 16, 2024
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Sneaking by cancer's defenses, by disguising tumor-fighting antibodies inside the molecules cancer uses to nourish tumor growth, is the basis of a novel therapy from Yale Cancer Center researchers at the Yale School of Medicine ...
Jul 16, 2024
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In an editorial, published in Oncoscience titled, "Entering the golden age for antibody-drug conjugates in gynecologic cancer," researchers Michelle Greenman, Blair McNamara, Levent Mutlu, and Alessandro D. Santin from Yale ...
Jul 15, 2024
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The primary goal in cancer drug research is not merely to discover compounds that can destroy cancer cells, but to develop methods that specifically target and deliver these agents to cancer cells, sparing healthy ones.
Jul 12, 2024
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AL (immunoglobulin light chain) amyloidosis is a rare disease that often results in progressive organ dysfunction, organ failure and eventual death.
Jun 26, 2024
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Antibodies (also known as immunoglobulins, abbreviated Ig) are gamma globulin proteins that are found in blood or other bodily fluids of vertebrates, and are used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects, such as bacteria and viruses. They are typically made of basic structural units—each with two large heavy chains and two small light chains—to form, for example, monomers with one unit, dimers with two units or pentamers with five units. Antibodies are produced by a kind of white blood cell called a plasma cell. There are several different types of antibody heavy chains, and several different kinds of antibodies, which are grouped into different isotypes based on which heavy chain they possess. Five different antibody isotypes are known in mammals, which perform different roles, and help direct the appropriate immune response for each different type of foreign object they encounter.
Although the general structure of all antibodies is very similar, a small region at the tip of the protein is extremely variable, allowing millions of antibodies with slightly different tip structures, or antigen binding sites, to exist. This region is known as the hypervariable region. Each of these variants can bind to a different target, known as an antigen. This huge diversity of antibodies allows the immune system to recognize an equally wide diversity of antigens. The unique part of the antigen recognized by an antibody is called an epitope. These epitopes bind with their antibody in a highly specific interaction, called induced fit, that allows antibodies to identify and bind only their unique antigen in the midst of the millions of different molecules that make up an organism. Recognition of an antigen by an antibody tags it for attack by other parts of the immune system. Antibodies can also neutralize targets directly by, for example, binding to a part of a pathogen that it needs to cause an infection.
The large and diverse population of antibodies is generated by random combinations of a set of gene segments that encode different antigen binding sites (or paratopes), followed by random mutations in this area of the antibody gene, which create further diversity. Antibody genes also re-organize in a process called class switching that changes the base of the heavy chain to another, creating a different isotype of the antibody that retains the antigen specific variable region. This allows a single antibody to be used by several different parts of the immune system. Production of antibodies is the main function of the humoral immune system.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA