A human-human hybridoma secreting anti-HLA class II antibody.

In this report, we describe the production and characterization of the first human-human hybridoma secreting antibody to HLA Class II determinants. The hybridoma (GMEC101), which has been stable in tissue culture for greater than 20 mo, secretes 10 to 50 micrograms/ml of IgM-kappa antibody. This antibody binds to a wide range of human cell lines, but not to the HLA-A,B,C, and DR-negative K562 cell line. Functionally, GMEC101 strongly inhibits a unidirectional mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) at the level of the stimulator cell. Neither the cellular ELISA binding nor the MLR inhibition is lost after a triple platelet absorption (which removes Class I but not Class II activity). Because the binding and MLR blocking show no correlation with the known DR or DQ specificities, we suggest that GMEC101 may be detecting a novel HLA Class II determinant.