Patent ID: 6797495
Filing Date: 2004-09-28
Classification: A61K,C07K

Abstract:
A method of producing monoclonal antibodies free from infectious prion contamination comprising:a) inoculating a mammal with an antigen to produce antibodies specific to said antigen; b) isolating B lymphocytes which express antibodies to the antigen from the mammal; c) ablating the endogenous PrP gene in the B lymphocytes; d) fusing the B lymphocytes having the ablated PrP gene to a mammalian cell line, said cell line comprising a genome comprising an ablated PrP gene, to establish a hybridoma line which expresses antibodies to the antigen; e) producing said monoclonal antibodies in the hybridoma line; and f) isolating said monoclonal antibodies from the hybridoma line; wherein the isolated monoclonal antibodies are free from infectious prion contamination, and further wherein the monoclonal antibodies cannot transmit a prion-mediated pathology to a subject of the same species as the mammalian cell line.