Teaching Antibodies New Tricks

Abstract

In a scene from the 1966 sciencefiction film Fantastic Voyage, Raquel Welch finds herself the target of Hollywood-style antibody molecules that attack her like homicidal pythons. Never mind that real would be invisible even to a cell-sized Welch. Never mind that real antibody responses to first-time invaders take days to develop and that normally bind to their targets in entirely passive encounters. A bit shaken, Welch survives the attack. Lucky for her the film wasn't made 20 years later. That's when two research groups not far from Hollywood showed the world how to make that not only bind to specific targets but also behave like catalysts, chemically rearranging them. With this in mind, the screenwriter for a new version of the movie might have the monstrous stick Welch's hands together or even lop off her leg in a molecular version of Jaws. These enzyme-like antibodies may soon make the transition from laboratory curiosities to sophisticated molecular tools for a vast repertoire of important medical, environmental and industrial jobs, including cutting through viral protein coats, deactivating toxic chemicals and creating drugs with fewer side effects. In preliminary experiments, researchers already have made catalytic that repair DNA damage caused by exposure to solar ultraviolet radiation, break the peptide bond between two specific amino acids or transform one end of a linear molecule into a ring structure. These accomplishments represent a mere peek into a warehouse of potential applications, researchers say