Antigen-specific monoclonal antibodies isolated from B cells expressing constitutively active STAT5.

BACKGROUND: Fully human monoclonal antibodies directed against specific pathogens have a high therapeutic potential, but are difficult to generate. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Memory B cells were immortalized by expressing an inducible active mutant of the transcription factor Signal Transducer...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ferenc A Scheeren, Caroline M M van Geelen, Etsuko Yasuda, Hergen Spits, Tim Beaumont
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2011-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3078118?pdf=render
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Summary:BACKGROUND: Fully human monoclonal antibodies directed against specific pathogens have a high therapeutic potential, but are difficult to generate. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Memory B cells were immortalized by expressing an inducible active mutant of the transcription factor Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 5 (STAT5). Active STAT5 inhibits the differentiation of B cells while increasing their replicative life span. We obtained cloned B cell lines, which produced antibodies in the presence of interleukin 21 after turning off STAT5. We used this method to obtain monoclonal antibodies against the model antigen tetanus toxin. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Here we describe a novel and relatively simple method of immortalizing antigen-specific human B cells for isolation of human monoclonal antibodies. These results show that STAT5 overexpression can be employed to isolate antigen specific antibodies from human memory B cells.
ISSN:1932-6203