Nature 256, 495 - 497 (07 August 1975); doi:10.1038/256495a0

Continuous cultures of fused cells secreting antibody of predefined specificity

G. KÖHLER & C. MILSTEIN

MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2QH, UK

THE manufacture of predefined specific antibodies by means of permanent tissue culture cell lines is of general interest. There are at present a considerable number of permanent cultures of myeloma cells^1,2 and screening procedures have been used to reveal antibody activity in some of them. This, however, is not a satisfactory source of monoclonal antibodies of predefined specificity. We describe here the derivation of a number of tissue culture cell lines which secrete anti-sheep red blood cell (SRBC) antibodies. The cell lines are made by fusion of a mouse myeloma and mouse spleen cells from an immunised donor. To understand the expression and interactions of the Ig chains from the parental lines, fusion experiments between two known mouse myeloma lines were carried out.

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