Immunogenomic engineering of a plug-and-(dis)play hybridoma platform.

Mark Pogson,Paul Heuberger,Sai T Reddy,Cristina Parola,William J Kelton

doi:10.1038/ncomms12535

Mark Pogson, Paul Heuberger + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms12535

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Abstract

Hybridomas, fusions of primary mouse B cells and myelomas, are stable, rapidly-proliferating cell lines widely utilized for antibody screening and production. Antibody specificity of a hybridoma clone is determined by the immunoglobulin sequence of the primary B cell. Here we report a platform for rapid reprogramming of hybridoma antibody specificity by immunogenomic engineering. Here we use CRISPR-Cas9 to generate double-stranded breaks in immunoglobulin loci, enabling deletion of the native variable light chain and replacement of the endogenous variable heavy chain with a fluorescent reporter protein (mRuby). New antibody genes are introduced by Cas9-targeting of mRuby for replacement with a donor construct encoding a light chain and a variable heavy chain, resulting in full-length antibody expression. Since hybridomas surface express and secrete antibodies, reprogrammed cells are isolated using flow cytometry and cell culture supernatant is used for antibody production. Plug-and-(dis)play hybridomas can be reprogrammed with only a single transfection and screening step.

Highlights

Hybridomas, fusions of primary mouse B cells and myelomas, are stable, rapidly-proliferating cell lines widely utilized for antibody screening and production
The new antibody is encoded by a synthetic antibody region, which consists of a variable light (VL) and constant kappa light chain (Ck), a self-cleaving 2A ribosomal skipping peptide, and a variable heavy chain (VH)
Hybridoma cells were transfected with pX458 and flow cytometry revealed a clear population of pX458-positive clones, which were subsequently isolated by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) (Supplementary Fig. 2a)

Summary

Introduction

Hybridomas, fusions of primary mouse B cells and myelomas, are stable, rapidly-proliferating cell lines widely utilized for antibody screening and production. Hybridomas are generated by the fusion between primary B cells (typically from immunized mice) and myeloma (plasmacytoma) cells, which results in immortalized, rapidly proliferating stable cultures of antibody producing cell lines, enabling screening, discovery and production of mAbs[2] By possessing both B cell and plasma cell immunoglobulin RNA splice pathways[3], many hybridoma clones are capable of simultaneously producing both membrane-associated and secretory immunoglobulin heavy (IgH) transcripts, leading to the surface expression and secretion of antibodies[4]. The new antibody is encoded by a synthetic antibody region (sAb), which consists of a VL and constant kappa light chain (Ck), a self-cleaving 2A ribosomal skipping peptide, and a VH This enables expression of full-length IgK and IgH through a single messenger RNA (mRNA) transcript[22], and requires the integration of only a single donor construct into the IgH locus. Using only a single transfection and screening step, we are able to generate cell lines that provide simultaneous antibody surface expression and secretion

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