Production of CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cell hybridomas

T cell hybridomas are very useful tools to investigate antigen presenting cell (APC) function. They were developed based on the fusion technology that led to monoclonal antibody section. Antigen-specific primary T cells are generated and fused to an immortal thymoma line. Unfused thymoma cells are eliminated by engineered metabolic selection. Antigen-specific hybridomas are identified and may be characterized in detail. Primary T cells are preferable for studies of the regulatory mechanisms intrinsic to T cells, but for study of antigen presentation T cell hybridomas have advantages over primary T cell clones, including their relative uniformity, stability over time, and ready availability in large numbers for extensive antigen presentation experiments.