MAKING MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODIES

This chapter highlights the procedures for assaying monoclonal antibodies. Monoclonal antibody technology provides advantage over conventional serology in a manner that the former enables to obtain an infinite quantity of antibody molecules of absolute homogeneity. Monoclonal antibodies should be favorably considered, when an antibody at a specific epitope on the antigen is to be aimed. These antibodies have also been used to identify new components of a partially isolated cellular structure. Another application in which monoclonal antibodies provide useful specificity is the inhibition of an activity by the binding of the monoclonal antibody near the active site of an enzyme. A hybridoma is the result of the physical fusion between a B lymphocyte and a mouse myeloma cell. The B lymphocyte, stimulated in vivo prior to the fusion to secrete a specific antibody, is immortalized by its union with the tumor cell. Because the myelomas, fused or unfused, have an unlimited life span, it is necessary to distinguish between the lymphocyte-myeloma hybridomas and all other cells in the culture. The immune system of the living mouse is stimulated to respond positively to the antigen before performing the fusion. © 1993, Academic Press Inc.