Patent ID: 8445229

Claim:
A method for producing hybridoma cells producing high-affinity antibodies from in vitro immunized immunoglobulin-producing cells comprising: (a) combining donor cells comprising immunoglobulin-producing cells with an immunogenic antigen in vitro; (b) fusing said immunoglobulin-producing cells with myeloma cells to form parental hybridoma cells, wherein said hybridoma cells express a dominant negative allele of a mismatch repair gene; (c) incubating said parental hybridoma cells with a chemical mutagen; (d) incubating said parental hybridoma cells to allow for mutagenesis, thereby forming hypermutated hybridoma cells; (e) performing a screen for binding of antibodies to antigen for antibodies produced from said hypermutated hybridoma cells; and (f) selecting hypermutated hybridoma cells that produce antibodies with greater affinity for said antigen than antibodies produced by said parental hybridoma cells; thereby producing hybridoma cells producing high-affinity antibodies.