Question

In this paper, the authors say:

We demonstrate that for a considerable number of eplets, the antibody-verified status is solely based on polyclonal serum reactivity of multiparous women or on reactivity of murine mAbs. Furthermore, we noted that a substantial proportion of patient sera analyses and human mAb data presented in the HLA Epitope Registry Database has never been published in a peer-reviewed journal. Therefore, we tested several unpublished human HLA-specific mAbs by luminex single antigen beads assay to analyze their HLA reactivity for eplet antibody verification. Although the majority of analyzed mAbs indeed verified their assigned eplets, this was not the case for a number of eplets.

I don't understand how did they have access to the monoclonal antibodies that were published but not in peer-reviewed journal. Surely those authors of non peer-reviewed journals did not ship the antibodies to the authors of this article, right? Is there something I'm not understanding?

Answer 1

The authors may have obtained unpublished monoclonal antibodies through research collaborations or from the developers directly. Monoclonal antibodies are produced using techniques like the hybridoma method to ensure specificity to single epitopes, unlike polyclonal antibodies. This specificity was assessed in the study using a luminex assay.

Step-by-step explanation:

The access to unpublished human HLA-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) by the authors of the paper, not previously published in peer-reviewed journals, may seem puzzling, but there are a few possible explanations. Researchers could acquire these mAbs through collaborations or directly from the creators, whether they are part of an academic institution or a biotech company. Monoclonal antibodies are vital tools in research and medicine due to their high specificity, as they bind to a single epitope on an antigen, unlike polyclonal antibodies which bind to multiple epitopes and can show more cross-reactivity. The antibodies' production, often using the hybridoma technique, ensures that each mAb is identical and produced by a single clone of B-cells, which can be essential for assays requiring high specificity.

The luminex single antigen beads assay used in the paper is a technique that assesses the reactivity of antibodies to specific HLA antigens, allowing for the verification of the specificity and reactivity of monoclonal antibodies to their assigned epitopes or eplets. Even though the majority of mAbs analyzed verified their eplets correctly, some did not, highlighting the importance of peer-reviewed validation of scientific data.