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Letters to Nature

Nature 181, 1419-1420 (17 May 1958) | doi:10.1038/1811419a0

Antibody Production by Single Cells

G. J. V. NOSSAL & JOSHUA LEDERBERG*

  1. Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne. March 25.
  2. *Fulbright Visiting Professor of Bacteriology, University of Melbourne; from Department of Medical Genetics, University of Wisconsin, Madison.
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FAGREUS1 and others2,3 have shown that certain tissues from pre-sensitized animals can form antibody in vitro. This communication describes a technique whereby antibody production by single cells isolated in microdroplets can be detected. The technique is based on specific immobilization of Salmonella serotypes by anti-flagellar antibody. It was observed that single cells from a rat, simultaneously stimulated with two antigens, formed detectable amounts of one or the other antibody.