Human, rat or mouse hybridomas secrete high levels of monoclonal antibodies following transplantation into mice with severe combined immunodeficiency disease (SCID).

Mice with severe combined immunodeficiency disease (SCID) have been investigated for their ability to grow xenogenic hybridomas of mouse, rat and human origin. Two rat X mouse hybridoma lines (187.1.10 and 3B9) and 1 mouse X mouse hybridoma (2D9) grown in pristane-treated SCID mice as ascites tumors showed a 100-200-fold increase in monoclonal antibody levels over the amount produced in vitro with a total yield up to 0.5 g of antibody per animal. A human X human hybridoma, CLL-11-D1, exhibited a 1000-fold increase in human immunoglobulin levels in ascites (1.3 mg/ml) as compared to that obtained in tissue culture. Analyses of the antibody protein in the SCID ascites produced by these hybridomas using protein electrophoresis, SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and high resolution isoelectric focusing indicated the antibodies were monoclonal and free from any contaminating immunoglobulins. Yields of monoclonal antibodies of over 90% purity could be obtained from the ascites by a single ammonium sulfate precipitation step. This study indicates that SCID mice provide several significant advantages over other in vivo methods for the production of pure monoclonal antibodies of human, rat, or mouse origin.