Influence of Somatic Cell Hybridization and Human Serum on the Generation and Stability of Human Hybridomas

We describe an approach that allows the generation of stable hybridomas secreting antigen specific human IgG antibodies with an efficiency comparable to that of the generation of IgM and IgA secreting hybridomas. This was achieved by evaluating means to increase the frequency of human hybridoma formation and the stability of the generated hybridoma cells when subjected to conditions for large scale growth. To this end, we generated new fusion lines with an increased human DNA content and modified the culture system. However, the application of these new fusion lines primarily resulted in unstable giant cells. As a consequence, we evaluated whether the viability of newly formed hybrids between existing fusion lines and lymphoblastoid cell lines might be improved. In an attempt to provide as many components necessary for the growth of antibody secreting hybridomas as possible, we propagated fused cells in medium supplemented with human serum. Our results show that with this approach the frequency of initially growing hybrids was significantly increased. Furthermore, only in culture medium supplemented with human serum was it possible to obtain stable IgG secreting clones.