Gf. Fasciglione et al., HAPTEN-CARRIER INTERACTIONS AND THEIR ROLE IN THE PRODUCTION OF MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODIES AGAINST HYDROPHOBIC HAPTENS, Hybridoma, 15(1), 1996, pp. 1-9
The coupling of haptens to carrier proteins is required for the genera
tion of antihapten antibody response, To date, different polypeptides
(such as gelatin, albumin, and keyhole limpet hemocyanin) have been us
ed to increase the immune response against haptens, Different methods
of conjugation have also been used to increase the specificity of the
antibody response, Our results, obtained through an analysis of the an
tibody response at both the polyclonal and the monoclonal levels, show
that carrier proteins specifically modulate the antibody titer, the s
pecificity of the response, the fusion efficiency, and the number of s
pecific clones, Moreover, the affinity constants of both serum and ran
domly selected hybridomas directed against different haptens have been
found to be exclusively modulated by carrier proteins, In addition, t
he results show that the carrier protein should be selected considerin
g its possible physicochemical interaction with haptens, Data obtained
suggested that any carrier is suitable for hydrophilic haptens, while
the choice of the carrier for hydrophobic haptens is critical in obta
ining a specific immune response, The use of specific carriers allowed
the production of highly specific antibodies: even IgMs, obtained by
using these carriers, were able to specifically react with hydrophobic
haptens; the case of some IgM monoclonal antibodies specifically reac
ting with protoporphyrin IX is reported.