Mouse Monoclonal Antibodies

Monoclonal antibodies are homogeneous mixtures of identical antibodies that are all derived from the same B cell clone. They offer many advantages for scientific research, not least a high specificity for their antigenic targets. This specificity is achieved as a result of each monoclonal antibody recognizing just a single epitope, which significantly reduces the risk of cross-reactivity with non-target proteins compared to using polyclonal antibodies. Other advantages of monoclonal antibodies include their consistent experimental performance and unlimited long-term supply. When monoclonal antibodies were first reported in 1975, they were produced in mice via hybridoma technology. In their seminal publication, Kohler and Milstein described the process of immunizing mice with sheep red blood cells before extracting the spleen from each animal and fusing the antibody-producing B lymphocytes with an immortal murine myeloma cell line. The cells were then incubated in hypoxanthine aminopterin thymidine (HAT) medium for up to 2 weeks to ensure that only the hybridomas survived. By screening the culture supernatants for anti-sheep antibodies, it was possible to identify the best-performing clones. One of the reasons for developing hybridoma technology in mice was the availability of the P3-X63-Ag8 murine myeloma cell line in Milstein’s laboratory. This was derived from the mineral oil-induced plasmacytoma MOPC-21 and was known to be capable of secreting immunoglobulins, suggesting it to be a suitable fusion partner for murine B lymphocytes. Mice also offer the more general advantages of being relatively easy to house and having a short breeding cycle. In addition, mice can serve as an effective source of feeder cells once hybridoma production is underway. Mouse monoclonal antibodies are among the most widely used antibody reagents for laboratory research and diagnostic assays. However, their utility as therapeutic agents has been problematic due to the inherent immunogenicity of murine proteins when introduced into human patients. To address this issue, various chimeric and humanized monoclonal antibodies have been developed. Examples to have successfully reached the clinic include Rituximab, a CD20-directed chimeric mouse-human monoclonal antibody for treating lymphoma and several autoimmune diseases, and Ibalizumab, a humanized mouse monoclonal antibody that binds to CD4 and prevents HIV-1 from entering CD4+ T cells. Explore our range of mouse monoclonal antibodies below and discover more, for less. Alternatively, you can explore our range of recombinant monoclonal antibodies, rabbit monoclonal antibodies, and rat monoclonal antibodies.