Antibody catalysis via strategic use of haptenic charge.

General acid-base catalysis contributes substantially to the efficacy of many enzymes. Similar effects can be exploited in antibody catalysis by taking advantage of charge complementarity between immunoglobulin and hapten (the template used to induce the antibody) to elicit functional groups in the combining site. This strategy has proved useful in the catalysis of a diverse set of chemical transformations, including elimination reactions. Provided that hapten design is optimized and the immune response is screened extensively, the efficiency of the resulting antibody catalysts can rival that of analogous natural enzymes.