Patent ID: 6921846

Claim:
A method for producing a monoclonal antibody specific for an antigen, the method comprising: (a) providing a transgenic mouse whose genome comprises a DNA sequence encoding a CD19 operably linked to a promoter and overexpressing CD19 in antibody-producing cells, wherein said antibody-producing cells have disrupted peripheral tolerance; (b) immunizing said transgenic mouse with an antigen to permit said antibody-producing cells to produce antibodies to the antigen, wherein said antigen is selected from the group consisting of an autoantigen and a highly conserved antigen: (c) removing at least a portion of said antibody-producing cells from the mouse; (d) forming a hybridoma by fusing one of the antibody-producing cells with an immortalizing cell wherein the hybridoma is capable of producing a monoclonal antibody to the antigen; (e) propagating the hybridoma; and (f) harvesting the monoclonal antibodies produced by the hybridoma.