Selective generation of antigen-specific human hybridomas optimized for large scale growth in serum-free medium.

The direct propagation of newly formed human hybridomas in serum-free medium selects for hybrids with a metabolism best suited to growth in this environment. Under optimal culture conditions, this procedure results in the generation of antigen-specific human hybridomas comparable in frequency, stability, and antibody secretion rate to that obtained with murine hybridomas. After a transient phase of a few days in the appropriate selection medium supplemented with 1% serum, hybridomas grow in serum-free medium in stationary cultures with a cell doubling time of 15-25 h and an antibody production rate averaging 12 micrograms/10(6) cells/day. Clones propagated in bioreactors exhibited a cell doubling time of 29-35 h and an antibody secretion rate of 10-21 micrograms/10(6) cells/day.