Screening for monoclonal antibodies with covalently linked antigen

Microtitre plates prepared for ELISA are treated for the maximum adsorption of gamma-globulins (at pH 9). The adsorption of other soluble proteins (e.g. antigens) is sometimes less effective and therefore requires a higher amount of protein for the primary coat of wells. In order to reduce the amount of pure antigen required for the screening of mAb-producing hybridomas, we improved the sensitivity of our screening ELISA technique by coupling the antigen covalently to the surface of the microtiter wells. The antigen (urokinase) was coupled by the glutaraldehyde or carbodiimide procedures respectively using "aminoplates" (Nissho Iwai, Japan). The glutaraldehyde method led to at least a five fold increase of the sensitivity compared to coventional adsorption. Reduced requirement of antigen for the assay is thus achieved by a simple procedure.