Producing monoclonal antibodies

• Monoclonal antibodies are antibodies that have been produced from clones of a single white blood cell.
• Monoclonal antibodies are useful because they can be made to target (bind to) specific chemicals or cells in the body
• The type of white blood cell that produce antibodies are called B lymphocytes
• How monoclonal antibodies are made

  1. Mouse B lymphocytes are stimulated to produce an antibody that’s specific to a chosen antigen
  2. The B lymphocytes are extracted and combined with tumour cells to form hybridoma cells
  3. The hybridoma cells are cloned to make lots of cells that all produce the desired antibody
  4. The antibody is collected and purified in large amounts
• Hybridoma cells are created when making monoclonal antibodies because they combine the useful properties of B lymphocytes and tumour cells:

  • B lymphocytes produce antibodies
  • tumour cells divide willingly, so it’s easy to grow them