Strategy for the production of human monoclonal antibodies using in vitro activated B cells.

An up-to-date strategy to optimally produce human monoclonal antibodies by primary in vitro immunization or by secondary in vivo stimulation of immunized donors is discussed in detail. The effect of a lysosomotropic amino acid dipeptide on the B cell suppression by lysosome-rich cytolytic cells and the subsequent Epstein-Barr virus transformation of immune B lymphocytes is explained. The described strategy allows a routine production of human hybridomas, derived from peripheral blood lymphocytes and exhibiting a productivity in the range of 20-50 micrograms Ig/24 h per 10(6) cells. Furthermore, the possibilities to modulate antibody isotype and affinity by molecular biological methods is reviewed.