Plastic fantastic antibodies

Plastic antibodies capable of mimicking the body’s immune system by recognising and fighting infections could point towards custom-made particles to fight antigens.

Kenneth Shea, Yu Hoshino and colleagues from the University of California studied the action of plastic melittin antibodies and found that they worked like natural antibodies. The scientists gave laboratory mice lethal injections of mettlin – the main toxin in bee venom –which breaks open and kills cells.

Mice that immediately received an injection of the mettlin-targeting plastic antibody showed a significantly higher survival rate than those that did not.

Shea believes nanoparticles could be created for a variety of different targets including everything from disease-causing viruses and bacteria, to proteins that cause allergic reactions to plant pollen, house dust, certain foods and bee stings. “This opens the door to serious considerations for these nanoparticles in all applications where antibodies are used,” he said.

The scientists had previously developed a method for making plastic nanoparticles that mimic natural antibodies by latching onto antigens. The antibody is made with molecular imprinting – a process the scientists likened to leaving a footprint in wet concrete. Mettlin is mixed with small molecules called monomers, which are then built longer chains and solidified. When hardened, researchers leached out the mettlin poison, leaving nanoparticles with tiny toxin-shaped craters.