THE manufacture of predefined specific antibodies by means of permanent tissue culture cell lines is of general interest. There are at present a considerable number of permanent cultures of myeloma cells1,2 and screening procedures have been used to reveal antibody activity in some of them. This, however, is not a satisfactory source of monoclonal antibodies of predefined specificity. We describe here the derivation of a number of tissue culture cell lines which secrete anti-sheep red blood cell (SRBC) antibodies. The cell lines are made by fusion of a mouse myeloma and mouse spleen cells from an immunised donor. To understand the expression and interactions of the Ig chains from the parental lines, fusion experiments between two known mouse myeloma lines were carried out.

Continuous cultures of fused cells secreting antibody of predefined specificity

CHAPTER 24 – Evolution of Protein Molecules

Rapid progress in deciphering the biological mechanism of Alzheimer's disease (AD) has arisen from the application of molecular and cell biology to this complex disorder of the limbic and association cortices. In turn, new insights into fundamental aspects of protein biology have resulted from research on the disease. This beneficial interplay between basic and applied cell biology is well illustrated by advances in understanding the genotype-to-phenotype relationships of familial Alzheimer's disease. All four genes definitively linked to inherited forms of the disease to date have been shown to increase the production and/or deposition of amyloid β-protein in the brain. In particular, evidence that the presenilin proteins, mutations in which cause the most aggressive form of inherited AD, lead to altered intramembranous cleavage of the β-amyloid precursor protein by the protease called γ-secretase has spurred progress toward novel therapeutics. The finding that presenilin itself may be the long-sought γ-...

Alzheimer's Disease: Genes, Proteins, and Therapy

In the genome of a germ-line cell, the genetic information for an immunoglobulin polypeptide chain is contained in multiple gene segments scattered along a chromosome. During the development of bone marrow-derived lymphocytes, these gene segments are assembled by recombination which leads to the formation of a complete gene. In addition, mutations are somatically introduced at a high rate into the amino-terminal region. Both somatic recombination and mutation contribute greatly to an increase in the diversity of antibody synthesized by a single organism.

Somatic generation of antibody diversity

A simple method is described for converting a standard rabbit reticulocyte cell-free extract (lysate) into an mRNA-dependent protein synthesis system. The lysate is preincubated with CaCl2 and micrococcal nuclease, and then excess ethyleneglycol-bis(2-aminoethylether)-N,N′-tetraacetic acid is added to chelate the Ca2+ and inactivate the nuclease. Lysates treated in this way have negligible endogenous amino acid incorporation activity, but 75% of the activity of the original lysate can be recovered by the addition of globin mRNA. The efficiency utilisation of added mRNA and the sensitivity of the system are both very high. No residual nuclease activity could be detected, and the tRNA is functionally unimpaired. Several different species of mRNA have been shown to be translated efficiently into full-sized products of the expected molecular weight up to about 200 000, and there is no detectable accumulation of incomplete protein products. The efficient translation of RNA from two plant viruses (tobacco mosaic virus and cowpea mosaic virus) required heterologous tRNA.

https://febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1432-1033.1976.tb10656.x

An efficient mRNA-dependent translation system from reticulocyte lysates.

The production of therapeutic human monoclonal antibodies by hybridoma technology has proved difficult, and this has prompted the "humanizing" of mouse monoclonal antibodies by recombinant DNA techniques. It was shown previously that the binding site for a small hapten could be grafted from the heavy-chain variable domain of a mouse antibody to that of a human myeloma protein by transplanting the hypervariable loops. It is now shown that a large binding site for a protein antigen (lysozyme) can also be transplanted from mouse to human heavy chain. The success of such constructions may be facilitated by an induced-fit mechanism.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/239/4847/1534.full.pdf

Reshaping human antibodies: grafting an antilysozyme activity

Monoclonal antibodies can now be genetically engineered and endowed with new properties. In the future, gene technology could enable antigen-binding fragments to be made by exploiting repertoires of variable domain genes derived from immunized animals and expressed in bacteria. How readily can this approach be extended to production of 'in vitro' repertoires of variable domain genes, and obviate the immunization of animals?

Man-made antibodies

We have previously described the derivation of M1/70, a hybrid myeloma line secreting monoclonal rat anti-mouse cell surface antibody (Springer, T., Galfre, G., Secher, D. S. and Milstein, C, Eur. J. Immunol. 1978. 8: 539). We have now investigated the cellular distribution of this antigen using a 125I-labeled anti-rat IgG indirect binding assay, the fluorescence-activated cell sorter, autoradiography and precipitation of cell surface molecules. Screening with a tumor cell panel showed strong reactivity with a macrophage-like line but no reactivity with B or T lymphoma lines. In normal tissues, M1/70 antigen was found to be present in small amounts on spleen and exudate granulocytes and a subpopulation of bone marrow cells, in moderate amounts on spleen and blood monocytes and expressed in much larger amounts on spleen histiocytes and peritoneal exudate macrophages. In contrast, M1/70 antigen was found to be absent from erythroid and lymphoid cells. M1/70 antibody precipitated two polypeptides of 190 000 and 105 000 mol. wt. which were present in much greater amounts on peritoneal exudate macrophages than on spleen cells. The expression on phagocytes of two other antigens identified by monoclonal antibodies M1/69 and M1/9.3 was also examined. Monocytes and granulocytes expressed large amounts of M1/69 and low amounts of M1/70 antigen, while in peritoneal exudate macrophages this pattern was dramatically reversed. M1/70 thus defines a differentiation antigen on mononuclear phagocytes and granulocytes, the expression of which is specifically increased during monocyte maturation. This antibody is the first to be described which recognizes a discrete molecule specific to phagocytes.

Mac‐1: a macrophage differentiation antigen identified by monoclonal antibody

A substantially enriched preparation of Alzheimer paired helical filaments (PHFs) has been used as a starting point for biochemical studies. Pronase treatment, which strips off adhering proteins, leaves a resistant core that is structurally intact. This has been used to raise a monoclonal antibody that decorates the filament core. The antibody has been used to follow the extraction of two peptide fragments (9.5 and 12 kDa) by immunoblotting. The link between the PHF as a morphological entity and these peptides has been established independently by photoaffinity labeling with a chemical ligand to the PHF core. Sequence analysis of these peptides was used to design oligonucleotide probes for cloning a cognate cDNA, which leads to its identification as human microtubule-associated tau protein. The sequencing of the 9.5- and 12-kDa peptides shows they are derived from a conserved region of tau containing three repeating segments. Since these fragments have been copurified with the Pronase-resistant core and are only released by subsequent steps, the corresponding part of the tau molecule must be tightly bound in the PHF core.

https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/85/12/4506.full.pdf

Isolation of a fragment of tau derived from the core of the paired helical filament of Alzheimer disease

A normal antibody-producing cell only expresses one antibody, resulting in the well-known phenomenon of allelic exclusion. When two myeloma cells are fused, the derived hybrids are capable of co-dominantly expressing the antibody genes of both parents. Although the respective variable (V) and constant (C) region genes remain expressed in the same cis configuration, heavy and light chains of both parents are scrambled, and hybrid molecules are formed. The same is true when a myeloma and an antibody-producing cell are fused to produce a hybrid myeloma (hybridoma). Fusion therefore allows the production of hybrid immunoglobulin molecules containing two different combining sites. Hybrid molecules of this type retain antigen-binding activity and specificity. Bispecific monoclonal antibodies secreted by hybridomas may have a variety of uses in biology and in medicine. Here we have focused on their application in histochemistry. As an example, we have prepared and tested an anti-somatostatin-anti-peroxidase bispecific antibody. This way of producing hybrid molecules is superior to the production of hybrid antibodies by chemical reconstitution methods because the drastic treatment required for chain separation in the latter is likely to lead to some protein denaturation and loss of antibody activity. Intracellularly synthesized and assembled hybrids do not suffer from this disadvantage. In addition, the recombination of heavy and light chains from different antibody molecules is likely to lead to considerable waste.

Cesar Milstein

Papers

Reshaping human antibodies: grafting an antilysozyme activity

Man-made antibodies

Mac‐1: a macrophage differentiation antigen identified by monoclonal antibody

Isolation of a fragment of tau derived from the core of the paired helical filament of Alzheimer disease

Hybrid hybridomas and their use in immunohistochemistry