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Updated: Jul 7, 2026

A High-throughput-compatible FRET-based Platform for Identification and Characterization of Botulinum Neurotoxin Light Chain Modulators
Published on: December 27, 2013
A human monoclonal antibody that binds serotype A botulinum neurotoxin
Sharad P Adekar1, R Mark Jones, M D Elias
1Cardeza Foundation for Hematologic Research and Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107, USA.
Abstract:
Monoclonal antibodies have demonstrated significant potential as therapeutics for botulinum neurotoxin exposures. We previously described a hybridoma method for cloning native human antibodies that uses a murine myeloma cell line that ectopically expresses the human telomerase catalytic subunit gene (hTERT) and the murine interleukin-6 gene (mIL-6). Here we describe a heterohybridoma cell line that ectopically expresses mIL-6 and hTERT and has improved stability of hTERT expression. We fused this cell line to human peripheral blood B cells from a subject who had received the botulinum toxoid vaccine, cloning a high-affinity antibody (13A) specific for serotype A botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT/A). The 13A antibody is an affinity-matured, post-germinal center IgG(1) lambda antibody that has partial neutralization activity in vivo. 13A binds an epitope on BoNT/A that overlaps the binding epitope of an IgG antibody previously shown to fully neutralize a lethal dose of BoNT/A in vivo. The 13A antibody may be useful for diagnostic testing or for incorporation into an oligoclonal therapeutic to counteract BoNT/A exposure.
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