Polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies as reagents in biochemical and in clinical-chemical analysis.

Conventionally prepared polyclonal antibodies have been used for a long time in biomedical research and in clinical-chemical diagnosis. The hybridoma technology introduced by Köhler & Milstein [1975) Nature 256, 495-497), has opened the way to a new dimension in serology. It is now possible to prepare monoclonal antibodies to any determinant on any component of biological matter. Such monoclonal and thus specific antibodies can be obtained even against previously unknown antigens which had not been available in purified or enriched form. Thus the dreams of immunologists and clinical scientists who were searching for new disease-related markers, have become a reality. The present impact and the predictable future influence of these new developments on biomedical research and especially on clinical-chemical diagnosis, as well as their potential, limitations and problems, will be critically reviewed in this paper. As an example of the potential of the new technology, recent results of tests on the quantitation of urinary kidney-derived antigens with the help of monoclonal antibodies are presented. With these monoclonal antibodies, which are specific for antigens in defined regions of the nephron of the human kidney, recognition of the location and extent of primary damage at the cellular level will be possible without invasive techniques.