) The use of well-defined serological reagents, in particular, monoclonal murine antibodies, has become an integral part of most basic research and clinical studies. Since the inception of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, the Institute has sponsored the Hybridoma Facility as a shared resource to assist researchers in the implementation of hybridoma technology to their basic or clinical research programs related to the objectives of the Institute. The Facility's efforts in this regard focus mainly on the generation and preparation of serological reagents, which are tailored to the needs of individual investigators, and in most instances, not readily commercially available. The Facility assists the investigator in identifying the proper immunogen as well as, if required, developing or facilitating the development of appropriate assays for screening hybridoma supernatants. The services of the Facility include immunizations, conventional fusions, screening of hybridoma supernatants, purification of antibodies, and the preparation of antibody conjugates and fragments. In the past few years, the need for anti-peptide antibodies has increased, and in some instances, rabbit anti-peptide polyclonal antiserum is a practical alternative to generating and isolating a hybridoma producing a high-affinity murine monoclonal antibody recognizing a peptide epitope. In this regard, the Facility has been active in preparing hapten-conjugates, affinity-purified rabbit Ig fractions, as well as antigen-affinity purified antibodies for research use by UPCI investigators.
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