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Producing monoclonal antibodies

Health, disease and the development of medicines · Antibiotics, culturing microorganisms and new medicines · note 6 of 7

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Producing monoclonal antibodiesSpec 5.21B

Monoclonal antibodies are identical antibodies, all made from one type of cell, that bind to only one specific antigen.

  1. An animal is exposed to the antigen, so it makes lymphocytes that produce the desired antibody.
  2. These lymphocytes are collected. They make the right antibody but they do not divide.
  3. They are fused with a tumour cell, which divides very quickly. This makes a hybridoma cell.
  4. The hybridoma cells divide and so make many identical cells. As they divide, the hybridoma cells produce antibodies.
  5. The antibodies are collected and purified.

A hybridoma cell has the properties of both its parent cells: it makes the desired antibody (from the lymphocyte) and it can divide again and again (from the tumour cell).

Flow diagram: a lymphocyte that makes the antibody but cannot divide is fused with a tumour cell that divides quickly to form a hybridoma cell, which divides into many identical hybridoma cells making the same antibody, which are collected as purified monoclonal antibodies.Tap to enlarge
A hybridoma cell makes the antibody like a lymphocyte and divides like a tumour cell.