General Questions on Natural Abzymes:

1.  Can abzymes be utilized to study and further characterize the structure of RNA?

    There is a great variety of RNase abzymes existing in patients with different diseases, as well as in the milk and blood of pregnant women, that would offer a good source of novel tools for studying RNA structure.  The abzymes cleave the RNA at specific sequences or structural motifs that would clarify various sequences or motifs present in RNA molecules (1).

2.  Can abzymes be used in the definitive diagnosis of stages in autoimmune disorders? 

    Recent investigations have correlated abzyme activity with the progression or remission of human autoimmune disorders.  Furthermore, comparison of substrate specificity of abzymes allows discrimination of different types of autoimmune disorders (1).

3.  Can abzymes be utilized in the treatment of certain microbial infections, such as HIV?

    Currently, there are several groups exploring the use of abzymes as therapy for HIV infections.  A group in Japan has discovered a catalytic antibody that targets and cleaves one of the HIV coat proteins (2).

4.  Can abzymes be produced that target and catalyze the rapid cleavage of hazardous compounds, including drugs and toxins?

    The first anti-cocaine catalytic antibodies with the capacity to degrade cocaine to nontoxic products have recently been generated (3).  The potential for the use of abzymes in neutralizing hazardous compound intoxication in the body is tremendous.

5.  Can the study of natural abzymes produced during pregnancy clarify unanswered questions on the induction and function of these catalytic antibodies, eventually promoting development of transplantation methods?

    Specific Questions on Abzyme Production during Pregnancy

References:

1.  Nevinsky GA, Buneva VN. 2003. Catalytic antibodies in healthy humans and patients with autoimmune and viral diseases. J Cell Mol Med 7(3):265-76.

2.  Hifumi E, Mitsuda Y, Ohara K, Uda T. 2002. Targeted destruction of the HIV-1 coat protein gp41 by a catalytic antibody light chain. J Immunol Methods 269:283-98.