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It has long been realized that only the study of homogeneous antibodies or cell populations could enable a definitive understanding of much of the immune mechanism. Hybridoma technology has greatly facilitated such approaches. Hybridoma antibodies have been used to delineate both B cell and T cell subpopulations. T cell studies per se have been accomplished by the use of T cell hybridoma cell lines producing a variety of factors. Anti-idiotypes against B cell hybridoma antibodies have been used to characterize T cell receptors and factors. B cell studies have been facilitated by hybridomas that have made available the immunoglobulin of pre-B cells or defective B cell lines. Hybridoma antibodies have also been used to dissect closely related antibody families and the potential for responsiveness against a variety of antigenic determinants. Finally, hybridomas have provided a primary source of material for protein and DNA sequence analysis. In our laboratories hybridoma antibodies derived against the murine H-2 locus have demonstrated the ability of B cell antibodies to discriminate amongst H2 mutants-a capacity previously attributed only to T cell specificities. Hybridoma antibodies have also been generated by fusions with antigen stimulated neonatal B cells to provide homogeneous antibodies reflective of the earliest developmental immunoglobulin readout. Such probes should increase our understanding of the processes involved in the generation of both the T and B cell repertoires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]