Cloning of human monoclonal antibodies to adalimumab

Sanquin’s Biologicals group cloned specific antibodies against the TNF-inhibitor adalimumab from single B-cells. The cells were derived from two rheumatoid arthritis patients, treated with the biological. The Journal of Biological Chemistry rewarded this work as paper of the week. Theo Rispens and his team found that  all anti-adalimumab antibodies compete for binding to TNF. The response is clonally diverse and involves multiple epitopes on the therapeutic antibody. These results are important for understanding the relationship between self and non-self or idiotypic determinants on therapeutic antibodies and their potential immunogenicity.