Production and characterization of specific monoclonal antibodies of the human thyroid stimulating hormone

Spleen cells from BALB/c mice immunized with human thyroid stimulating horm one (beta-subunit) were fused with mouse myeloma cells (P3/X63-Ag8) and fiv e hybridomas secreting monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) were obtained. These hy bridomas specifically recognize (hTSH) and do not cross-react with the othe r human glycoprotein hormones such as: luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-s timulating hormone (FSH) and human chorionic gonadotropin (hcG). The MAbs w ere of the IgG(1) subclass and ascitic fluid from these hybridomas was puri fied by affinity chromatography on Protein A-sepharose CL-4B column to isol ate the IgG(1) active fraction. The affinity constant of these MAbs ranged from 3.2 x 10(10) to 1.5 x 10(11) M-1.