Generation of rabbit monoclonal antibodies.

Rabbit hybridomas are gaining wide acceptance as serologic reagents to identify a variety of antigens, including proteins, small peptides, phosphorylated proteins, and polysaccharides. Rabbits make high-affinity IgG antibodies, all of which bind with high affinity to Protein A from Staphylococcus aureus and Protein G from Group G Streptococcus. Consequently, rabbit monoclonal antibodies of desired specificity can be rapidly detected using Protein A/G as secondary reagents. Here we describe the method for generating rabbit monoclonal antibodies using the rabbit hybridoma fusion partner 240E-1. The method begins with the immunization of rabbits and ends with the cloning the antigen-specific hybridomas.