Method of monoclonal antibody production using hybridoma technology

In this method, an animal is immunized with a protein (or antigen) of interest. Spleen or lymph node cells are harvested and fused with a nonsecreting myeloma cell to create a hybridoma. Successfully fused cells can be selected in specialized media that only allows the hybridomas to survive. The candidate hybridomas are grown in culture, and the culture supernatants are screened for antibodies that bind to the target antigen. Cells are cloned by limiting dilution to yield a homogenous population. Refer to UpToDate for details of this method and for other methods of producing therapeutic monoclonal antibodies.