Ken Ypon
2/18/24
Immunology
Dr. Christina Steel
Monoclonal Antibody Assignment
Monoclonal antibodies are special proteins that are synthesized in a scientific laboratory
in which they bind to a specific antigen. These proteins are beneficial to the human body because
they are utilized to treat diseases. One such monoclonal antibody, Nivolumab, also known as
OPDIVO, is a drug that helps treat cancer and is associated with a community of various other
drugs that treat help fight off cancer called immunotherapeutic drugs. Nivolumab utilizes T-cells,
which are apart of the innate immune response, and binds itself onto the programmed death
receptor (PD1) found on T-cells to stimulate the immune system in identifying and destroying
cancerous cells (Arnold-Korzeniowski, 2023). Like other immunotherapeutic drugs stated in the
beginning, Nivolumab is a drug that is synthesized in a lab to help train the immune system in
fighting off diseases, so it is not necessarily apart of the innate immune response, therefore
summarizing that it is not inherited, but rather gained. These drugs are more so apart of the
adaptive immune response which is considered to be your second line of defense, utilizing
antibodies and T and B cells. The significant factor of Nivolumab that is responsible for binding
the PD-1 receptor on the T-cell membrane is the IgG4 antibody.
The PD-1 receptor is an important and significant protein that helps regulate and maintain
the immune system. This receptor is found not only on T-cells, but also natural killer (NK) cells
and B-cells as well. The issue arises when cancerous cells have high concentrations of the PD-L1
proteins which act as a shield to protect them against the immune cells, specifically T-cells.
When PD-1 and PD-L1 interact, or bind, it signals the T-cells to not interfere in destroying the
cancerous cell. Unfortunately, well known cancers such as melanoma, lung, gastric, etc, can
express the PD-L1 protein that help protect them from detection. When such problems happen,
that is when the immunotherapeutic drug, Nivolumab, or its IgG4 antibody, comes into action.
This antibody serves as a “checkpoint” by blocking or inhibiting the PD-1 receptors’ interaction
with the cancer cell’s PD-L1 receptor. When T-cells struggle to detect cancerous cells expressing
high amounts of PD-L1, the IgG4 binds itself to the receptor, PD-1, and inhibits its interaction
with PD-L1, giving the T-cell an opportunity to recognize the cancerous cell and alert other
immune cells in the immune systems about the disease-causing cell. Utilizing Nivolumab is
beneficial to the immune cells in the human immune system as it helps train and stimulate the
immune system to inhibit the growth of cancerous cells and prevent growth.

References
Cancer Resources from OncoLink | Treatment, R. (n.d.). Nivolumab (Opdivo®). OncoLink.
https://www.oncolink.org/cancer-treatment/oncolink-rx/nivolumab-opdivo-r
Nivolumab (Opdivo). Cancer information | Cancer Research UK. (2023, May 10).
https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/treatment/drugs/nivolumab
Rajan, A., Kim, C., Heery, C. R., Guha, U., & Gulley, J. L. (2016, September). Nivolumab, anti-
programmed death-1 (PD-1) monoclonal antibody immunotherapy: Role in advanced
cancers. Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5027703/#:~:text=Nivolumab%20is%20a
%20fully%20human,%2DL1%20and%20PD%2DL2