Reproducible Production of Protective Human Monoclonal Antibodies by Fusion of Peripheral Blood Lymphocytes with a Mouse Myeloma Cell Line

The production of monoclonal antibodies of human origin may represent a significant advance in immunotherapy for disease in humans. Although human monoclonal antibody has been produced from human lymphocytes by fusion with human myeloma cell lines or by Epstein-Barr viral transformation, fusion of postimmunization human lymphocytes with a mouse myeloma cell line is a relatively simple and reproducible alternative. Mouse-human hybrid cell lines were obtained in 205 (53%) of the microtiter wells initially seeded. Thirty-one (15%) of these hybrid cell lines secreted antibody of predefined specificity. Cloning was attempted with eight of the hybrid cell lines, and long-term antibody production was established in four of the lines: two hybridomas secreted antibody to the capsule of Haemophilus influenzae type b, one secreted antibody to tetanus toxoid, and one secreted antibody to diphtheria toxin. The production of mouse-human hybridomas appears to be a reliable method for obtaining human monoclonal antibody of predefined specificity.