Preparation of "histocomposites" for direct immunohistochemical screening of monoclonal antibodies.

Screening and selection of hybrids producing relevant antibodies in monoclonal technology usually rely on rapid and sensitive adsorption assays of the ELISA type. To identify clones producing antibodies with unexpected specificities direct immunohistological screening may be applied, but this is both tedious and expensive. Histocomposites made from a number of tissue types permit testing of supernatants at the required early stage after fusion. The multiple antigenic specificities displayed in such test specimens ensure detection of a broad range of antibodies. A simple method for production of the histocomposites is described.