Human hybridomas secreting anti-islet autoantibodies

Abstract

Serum from patients with type I diabetes mellitus contains antibodies which react with all islet cells on sections of human pancreas¹, normal rat islet cell surface antigens², antigens expressed by islet cell tumours³, β-cell-specific surface antigens⁴ and A cells of sections of human pancreas⁵. Due in part to the low titre of anti-islet antibodies, the biochemistry of the relevant islet cell antigens is poorly understood⁶. Our laboratory has begun to develop and define a series of murine monoclonal anti-islet antibodies^7–9. In addition, we have begun to explore the possibility of producing human hybridomas secreting monoclonal anti-islet antibodies by fusing lymphocytes from patients having type I diabetes mellitus with human myeloma cell lines. We describe here the isolation of human hybridomas that secrete human monoclonal anti-islet antibody. The availability of hybridoma clones secreting autoantibody should result in a better understanding of the mechanisms resulting in the expression of human autoantibodies.