Screening for anti-idiotypic monoclonal antibodies on paraformaldehyde-fixed lymphoma cells.

Paraformaldehyde-fixed, human lymphoma cells on glass slides were used to screen murine hybridoma supernatants for anti-idiotypic monoclonal antibodies by a rapid indirect immunofluorescence technique. The method is shown to require far fewer cells for screening than current techniques, and it provides results that correlate with the results of screening by flow cytometry or by capture ELISA. We conclude that paraformaldehyde fixation preserves the idiotypic determinants of lymphomas. The assay described in this report, therefore, has significant advantages over current methods for producing anti-idiotypic monoclonal antibodies.