Production of hybridomas secreting monoclonal antibodies against components of normal and malignant cells.

The advantages of the lymphocyte hybridization approach has been demonstrated in two systems where monoclonal antibodies of defined specificity have been produced against complex antigens as the acetylcholine receptor and murine carcinoma cells. In both cases it was possible to obtain monoclonal antibodies with specificities that could not be detected in "conventional" antisera. Rare determinants of the AChR were described, one of which is associated with the binding site of cholinergic drugs. A new antigenic marker common to the 3LL metastatic carcinoma and to the lung tissue was defined. A system is described which increases the frequency of positive hybridomas resulted from the utilization for fusion of antibody forming cells that were enriched by antigenic challenge in adoptive transfer system.