The isolation and characterization of murine monoclonal antibodies directed to polymorphic epitopes on HLA antigens.

Twenty-two murine monoclonal antibodies directed to distinct polymorphic epitopes on HLA class I or class II antigens have been isolated and characterized using a simple protocol for fusion and hybridoma selection. Thirteen MAbs directed to class I antigens are reported here for the first time. The majority of these MAbs reacted with multiple specificities, often revealing a surprising sharing of epitopes. MAbs directed against single classically defined alloantigenic specificities were also obtained.