The following guidelines have been approved by the University Animal Care and Use Committee to insure that animals used for the production of hybridomas for the production of monoclonal antibodies experience minimal pain and distress . Immunization volumes should not exceed 0.2 ml when administered subcutaneously or 0.5 ml when administered by intraperitoneal injection. In vitro immunization procedures have been reported to be beneficial when antigen is in limited supply and previous attempts at in vivo immunization have failed. Other advantages of in vitro immunization are the requirement for fewer animals and the immunization period is reduced to 4-5 days 1,2,3 . It is recommended that hybridomas and the monoclonal produced be tested for the presence of adventitious viral and mycoplasma agents prior to use in animals.
Viral contamination is common in murine leukemia and transplantable tumor specimens.
Inoculation may result in infection of the animal and spread of disease through the vivarium. Also, lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus has been isolated from tumor cell lines which is capable of producing illness in humans 4 . CAK, Strategy for the production of human monoclonal antibodies using in vitro activated B cells. H, Luzzati AL, Schreier M, Fusion of in vitro immunized lymphoid cells with X63Ag8. Lymphocytic choriomeningitis outbreak associated with nude mice in a research institute.