Enrichment and Selection of Hybrid Hybridomas by Percoll Density Gradient Centrifugation and Fluorescent-Activated Cell Sorting

Hybrid hybridomas, producing bi-specific monoclonal antibodies that react with horseradish peroxidase and human IgA1 were isolated by sorting the double-fluorescent cells on single-cell basis after fusion of two hybridomas, previously labelled green or red by octadecylamine-FITC or -TRITC, respectively. The double-fluorescent fused cells were significantly different in AXL (size) and RAS (internal structure) distribution compared with the (non-fused) mono-fluorescent cells. The percentage of double-fluorescent cells and the viability of these cells could be increased by Percoll density gradient centrifugation. As a result, there was an 8-fold increase of total isolated hybrid hybridomas (up to 30% of all tested clones) compared to isolations without Percoll density gradient centrifugation. All the isolated hybrid hybridoma clones had similar amounts of DNA, equal to the sum of the DNA of both parental hybridomas.