ALTEX :: Alternatives to Animal Experiments

1995, Volume 1

Development of Human Monoclonal Antibodies

Toni Lindl

Institute for Applied Cellcultures, D-Munich

SUMMARY

This article describes the current state of the development of human monoclonal antibodies. The last three years brought a wealth of new techniques and it seems that the long-awaited breakthrough of these "magic" therapeutic agents is close. This paper discusses both the classical cell-biological methods (e.g. fusion with other lymphoma cells and/or Epstein Barr virus transformation of human B-cells) and the "new" gene-technology approaches. The therapeutic possibilities of human monoclonal antibodies against infectious agents and cancer related antigens and their impact are reviewed and the development strategies--both "classical" and "new"--are discussed. The in vitro immunization technique is critically reviewed.

Keywords: human monoclonal antibodies, in vitro immunization, somatic cell fusion, Epstein Barr virus transformation, human immunoglobulin gene libraries, phage display techniques