Use of Epstein-Barr virus-transformed B cell lines for the generation of immunoglobulin-producing human B cell hybridomas

HGPRTase-deficient EBV-transformed B cell lines were shown to be effective fusion partners with mitogen-activated human B cells for the construction of Ig-producing human B cell hybridomas. In a series of experiments using these lines and B cells from several tissue sources, approximatley 20% of the cultures plated were consistently positive for growth after hypoxanthine-aminopterin-thymidine selection and approximatley 30% of these synthesized significant new Ig. A marked increase in Ig secretion was observed after hybridization, which was due to new Ig; Ig from the parental lime was shown to disappear in several instances. Special analyses were carried out on a human hybridoma secreting antibody specific for tetanus toxoid and tetanus toxin and stable subclones were derived. These studies suggest that EBV- transformed lines will prove useful in human hybridization studies, thus making a large library of B cell lines available for the generation of human monoclonal antibodies.