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What’s an Abzyme?
Abzymes represent a promising new frontier in immunology. Abzymes are antibodies
that express a catalytic activity. A single molecule of an antibody-enzyme, or abzyme, is
capable of catalyzing the destruction of thousands of target molecules. ARF believes that
E-vaccines and abzymes can be developed to prevent and treat HIV and other intractable
diseases. The efficiency of abzyme technology could permit treatments with smaller
doses of medicines at lower costs than are possible today.

still from ARF video "Path to an effective vaccine"

You can check out this video for a great visualization of how abzymes work as compared
to traditional antibodies.

WIKIPEDIA defines abzymes as :

An abzyme (from antibody and enzyme), also called catmab (from catalytic monoclonal
antibody), is a monoclonal antibody with catalytic activity. Molecules which are
modified to gain new catalytic activity are called synzymes. Abzymes are usually
artificial constructs, but are also found in normal humans (anti-vasoactive intestinal
peptide autoantibodies) and in patients with autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus
erythematosus, where they can bind to and hydrolyze DNA. Abzymes are potential tools
in biotechnology, e.g., to perform specific actions on DNA.
Enzymes function by lowering the activation energy of the transition state, thereby
catalyzing the formation of an otherwise less-favorable molecular intermediate between
reactants and products. If an antibody is developed to a stable molecule that’s similar to
an unstable intermediate of another (potentially unrelated) reaction, the developed
antibody will enzymatically bind to and stabilize the intermediate state, thus catalyzing
the reaction. A new and unique type of enzyme is produced.

HIV treatment
In a June 2008 issue of the journal Autoimmunity Reviews,[1] researchers S Planque,
Sudhir Paul, Ph.D, and Yasuhiro Nishiyama, Ph.D of the University Of Texas Medical
School at Houston announced that they have engineered an abzyme that degrades the
superantigenic region of the gp120 CD4 binding site. This is the one part of the HIV
virus outer coating that does not change, because it is the attachment point to T
lymphocytes, the key cell in cell-mediated immunity. Once infected by HIV, patients
produce antibodies to the more changeable parts of the viral coat. The antibodies are
ineffective because of the virus’ ability to change their coats rapidly. Because this protein
gp120 is necessary for the HIV virus to attach, it does not change across different strains
and is a point of vulnerability across the entire range of the HIV variant population.

The abzyme does more than bind to the site, it actually destroys the site, rendering the
HIV virus inert, and then can attach to other viruses. A single abzyme can destroy
thousands of HIV viruses. Human clinical trials will be the next step in producing
treatment and perhaps even preventative vaccines and microbicide

Abzyme Research F.

endhiv

endhiv @hivgirl thanks for the add, I would love to email info on our vaccine approach
14 days ago · reply
endhiv ARF Board meeting today to finalize 2011 vaccine fundraising plans... exciting!
15 days ago · reply

thewellproject RT @NMACCommunity U.S. House of Representatives approve

additional $60 million increase in ADAP funding for 2011: http://ow.ly/3pc0u 20 days
ago · reply

endhiv @GayCityHealth Thanks for the add! We will be launching a fund raising effort
for a new vaccine in 2011, and will send info. 24 days ago · reply

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