High-avidity human IgGκ monoclonal antibodies from a novel strain of minilocus transgenic mice

• Published in: Nature biotechnology 1996-07, Vol.14 (7), p.845-851
• Main Authors: Fishwild, Dianne M, O'Donnell, Susan L, Bengoechea, Tasha, Hudson, Debra V, Harding, Fiona, Bernhard, Susan L, Jones, Debbie, Kay, Robert M, Higgins, Kay M, Schramm, Stephen R, Lonberg, Nils
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Agriculture; Animals; Antibodies, Monoclonal - biosynthesis; Antibodies, Monoclonal - genetics; Antibodies, Monoclonal - immunology; Antibody Affinity; Bioinformatics; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedical Engineering/Biotechnology; Biomedicine; Biotechnology; CD4 Antigens - immunology; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Humans; Hybridomas; Immunoglobulin G - immunology; Immunoglobulin kappa-Chains - immunology; Life Sciences; Lymphocyte Culture Test, Mixed; Mice; Mice, Transgenic; research-article; T-Lymphocytes - immunology
• ISSN: 1087-0156; 1546-1696
• DOI: 10.1038/nbt0796-845

Human immunoglobulin transgenic mice provide a method of obtaining human monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) using conventional hybridoma technology. We describe a novel strain of human immunoglobulin transgenic mice and the use of this strain to generate multiple high-avidity human sequence IgGκ Mabs directed against a human antigen. The light chain transgene is derived in part from a yeast artificial chromosome clone that includes nearly half of the germline human Vκ region. In addition, the heavy-chain transgene encodes both human μ and human γ1 constant regions, the latter of which is expressed via intratransgene class switching. We have used these animals to isolate human IgGκ Mabs that are specific for the human T-cell marker CD4, have high binding avidities, and are immunosuppressive in vitro. The human Mab-secreting hybridomas display properties similar to those of wild-type mice including stability, growth, and secretion levels. Mabs with four distinct specificities were derived from a single transgenic mouse, consistent with an extensive diversity in the primary repertoire encoded by the transgenes.