Hybridoma cells are created by fusing B lymphocytes and myeloma cells, resulting in cells that produce monoclonal antibodies. B lymphocytes are essential for immunity, while myeloma cells are cancerous. The process was developed in the 1970s and involves immunizing a mouse, isolating B lymphocytes, fusing them with myeloma cells, and selecting for cells that recognize the antigen. Monoclonal antibodies have many uses in research and medicine.
A hybridoma cell is a hybrid of two other types of cells, called B lymphocytes and myeloma cells. When a B lymphocyte and a myeloma cell are hybridized, they form a hybridoma cell capable of producing monoclonal antibodies. When the antibodies are monoclonal, it means that all the antibodies in a given sample come from the same B lymphocyte and are all identical. Monoclonal antibodies have a wide range of uses, including in diagnostic medicine and biological research.
B lymphocytes are the antibody-producing cells of the immune system. The cells and the antibodies they produce are essential for providing protection against bacterial infection, as well as infection with some types of viruses. B lymphocytes produce specific antibodies, but have a limited life span. A myeloma cell is a B lymphocyte that has become malignant and is therefore a cancer cell. Myeloma cells cannot produce antibodies, but are able to continue dividing in a cell culture indefinitely.
The process for developing hybridoma cells was invented in the 1970s. To initiate this process, a mouse is immunized with a protein antigen. The mouse will then mount an immune response to the antigen, which will include B lymphocytes that produce antibodies that recognize the antigen. Subsequently, the spleen of the immunized mouse is removed and B lymphocytes are isolated from the spleen tissue.
The antibody-producing B lymphocytes are then cultured with myeloma cells. Cell culture is treated with a chemical that makes cell membranes permeable, meaning they’re dotted with tiny holes. This allows myeloma cells and B lymphocytes to fuse more easily. When a B lymphocyte fuses with a myeloma cell, the result is a hybridoma cell. The next step is to isolate the newly fused cells so that each cell is in its own separate culture. This is necessary to ensure that the antibodies produced by the cells are monoclonal and are not contaminated by antibodies from different cells.
Finally, the hybridoma cells are selected for culture based on how well they recognize the antigen that was used to immunize the mouse early in the process. This is important because B lymphocytes do not all produce exactly the same type of antibody, even when they have been immunized with the same antigen. Each B lymphocyte produces antibodies that recognize the antigen with varying degrees of specificity and strength; therefore, an additional selection process is used to locate antibody-producing cells with the desired responses.
The ability to use hybridomas to generate monoclonal antibodies to virtually any protein makes them an extremely useful scientific tool. Monoclonal antibodies are used extensively in biological research to identify and isolate cellular proteins. In diagnostic medicine, monoclonal antibodies are an effective diagnostic tool because they can be used to detect bacterial, viral or tumor antigens present even in small quantities in a blood or tissue sample.
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