A ONE-STEP MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODY TYPING PROCEDURE THAT SIMPLIFIES HLA CLASS-I AND CLASS-II TYPING

We have developed monoclonal antibodies to most HLA specificities, mak ing it possible for us to devise a simple, rapid, one-step microcytoto xicity test. The test is performed by adding 1 mul of cells to 1 mul o f antibody-complement mixture predotted on the microtest tray. The rea ctions are read following a 1-hour incubation period (30 minutes in so me instances). The analysis of reactions seen on testing 105 class I a ntibodies and 50 class II antibodies is shown. A comparison of typing by the standard NIH method and the new one-step procedure showed a > 9 6% concordance in the 500 T cells and 200 B cells we examined. Class I and class II typing could be performed using B cells, thus obviating the need to isolate both T and B cells for HLA typing.