Comparison of two techniques for targeting the production of monoclonal antibodies against particular antigens.

We have compared the efficacy of two methods for enhancing the probability of producing monoclonal antibodies against particular target antigens in a complex mixture. These methods use two tissue extracts, one extract that contains (A) and one extract that does not contain (B) the target antigen(s) of interest. In the chemical immunosuppression approach, cyclophosphamide is used to suppress the mouse's response to common antigens in extract B before injection of extract A containing the target antigens. In the tolerization approach, neonatal mice are tolerized against the common antigens in extract B before injection of extract A containing the target antigens. Although small numbers of animals were used in this initial comparison, immunodot assays clearly indicate that the cyclophosphamide immunosuppression method yields significantly more monoclonal antibodies specific for the target antigen-containing extract A than does the tolerization method.