Murine Monoclonal Antibody Development

Major advances in the analysis of biomolecular structure have emerged from the development of highly specific monoclonal antibodies (MAb) by K�hler and Milstein in 1975 (1 ). MAb are produced from hybridoma cell lines that secrete a single species of antibody to a unique antigen. The advantages of MAb as reagents for antibody engineering are:

1.	They are extremely pure immunological reagents that can be produced by immunization with a heterogenous antigenic preparation;
2.	They are homogenous with respect to affinity and specificity;
3.	The specificity of the antibody is directed to a single epitope;
4.	The desired MAb can be selected for activity, affinity, and subclass by applying appropriate screening methods; and
5.	Virtually unlimited quantities of MAb can be produced.