Loss of secretion in mouse-human hybrids need not be due to the loss of a structural gene

Three cloned mouse-human lines (B1-29, E2-42, and A2-31) secreting human immunoglobulin (Ig) were obtained from a fusion between the mouse myeloma line NS-1 and human tonsillar lymphocytes stimulated in vitro with pokeweed mitogen. One line, B1-29, has continued to secrete human IgG for a period of 2 yr in culture. This line was recloned three times to give a panel of secreting and nonsecreting subclones. Most of the nonsecreting subclones had also lost surface Ig. The structural genes for human Ig heavy chains have been provisionally assigned to chromosome 14, which also encodes the enzyme nucleoside phosphorylase. Human nucleoside phosphorylase was detected in all secreting and nonsecreting B1-29 subclones, indicating the presence of human chromosome 14. The retention of chromosome 14 in nonsecreting clones implied that the structural genes for human Ig were A2-31 and E2-42, which had stopped secreting, an attempt was made to restimulate the secreting of human Ig with mitogens A2-31 was unique among the cell lines examined, in that chromosome 14 could not be detected by an isoenzyme marker. Lipopolysaccharide, at an optimum dose of 10 micrograms/ml, restimulated these nonsecreting hybrid lines to secrete human IgG in levels up to 0.7 micrograms/ml. Loss of Ig secretion may not therefore be caused by loss of Ig structural genes.