Antigen-Specific Monoclonal Antibodies Isolated from B Cells Expressing Constitutively Active STAT5 Ferenc A. Scheeren Caroline M. M. van Geelen Etsuko Yasuda Hergen Spits Tim Beaumont 10.1371/journal.pone.0017189 https://plos.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Antigen_Specific_Monoclonal_Antibodies_Isolated_from_B_Cells_Expressing_Constitutively_Active_STAT5/137516 <div><h3>Background</h3><p>Fully human monoclonal antibodies directed against specific pathogens have a high therapeutic potential, but are difficult to generate.</p> <h3>Methodology/Principal Findings</h3><p>Memory B cells were immortalized by expressing an inducible active mutant of the transcription factor Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 5 (STAT5). Active STAT5 inhibits the differentiation of B cells while increasing their replicative life span. We obtained cloned B cell lines, which produced antibodies in the presence of interleukin 21 after turning off STAT5. We used this method to obtain monoclonal antibodies against the model antigen tetanus toxin.</p> <h3>Conclusions/Significance</h3><p>Here we describe a novel and relatively simple method of immortalizing antigen-specific human B cells for isolation of human monoclonal antibodies. These results show that STAT5 overexpression can be employed to isolate antigen specific antibodies from human memory B cells.</p> </div> 2011-04-15 02:05:16 antigen-specific monoclonal antibodies cells expressing constitutively stat5