The use of a novel immune complex to isolate neutralizing antibodies to basic fibroblast growth factor

This paper describes the use of a novel immune complex (IC) to generate neutralizing monoclonal antibodies to basic fibroblast growth factor. The IC uses a non-neutralizing monoclonal antibody bound to Protein A, itself coated on a solid support, to capture the antigen. Presumably, the capture antibody binds to a region of the antigen distal from the neutralizing site. Animals, immunized with the IC, develop a neutralizing titer and hybridomas producing neutralizing antibodies to basic FGF were obtained. This method can be used to generate neutralizing monoclonals to highly conserved growth factors whenever the antigen can be captured at a site distal to the neutralizing eptiopes.