How Does It Work? | Antibody Drug Conjugates

In this week’s installment of our “How Does It Work?” video series, we explore Antibody Drug Conjugates.

Monoclonal antibodies are highly versatile molecules that we can modify to generate new and improved cancer therapies. Here we have a type of modified antibody, known as an antibody drug conjugate, or ADC.

The ADC contains two antigen binding sites that help it to locate a cancer cell and a cytotoxic drug joined to the antibody by a linker for killing its target. The ADC works by binding membrane proteins that are mainly present on cancer cells.

The ADC is then taken up by the cell, where the antibody component is degraded and the cytotoxic drug is released. This leads to the destruction of cancer cells, while minimizing the damage to the healthy cells of the patient. And this is another way antibody research is helping cancer patients.