A study of antibody secretion from hybridoma cells

Abstract

The secretion of monoclonal antibody in both batch and continuous cultures was studied. It was found that when hybridoma cells were continuously cultivated in a simple lab scale fermenter, they secreted less antibody than cells grown in stationary culture, even though the cell densities were the same. It appeared that monoclonal antibody was retained by the hybridoma cells in the fermenter, and in order to investigate this, membrane work was carried out. The effects of three ionophores on the hybridoma cells was studied. It was found that Valinomycin and Gramicidin were very toxic and killed the cells within a short period of time. Monensin was found to be less toxic, and although cell growth was inhibited, it appeared that this ionophore increased the secretion of monoclonal antibody from the cells.