A human monoclonal anti-DNA antibody derived from a patient with polymyositis having the common lupus 16/6 idiotype.

A human IgM monoclonal antibody (Pol-1, SA-1) was generated by the human hybridoma technique from the peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) of a patient with active polymyositis. The antibody was found to bind to ssDNA, dsDNA, poly(I) and poly(G) and to carry the common lupus anti-DNA antibody idiotype (16/6 Id). Another human IgM monoclonal antibody (Pol-2, SA-2) produced by similar methods from the PBL of the same patient while in remission lacked the ligand-binding capacities of Pol-1 SA-1 and did not have the 16/6 Id. Analyses of 19 sera samples from patients with polymyositis showed no antinuclear antibodies, excluding a 40% prevalence of the 16/6 Id. The serum of the patient whose lymphocytes were employed to generate the hybridoma was negative for anti-DNA activity as well as for the 16/6 Id. This study suggests that the hybridoma technique may enable expression of dormant idiotypic affinities which do not normally appear in sera.