THE USE OF IN VITRO PRODUCED MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES FOR THE TREATMENT OF IMMUNOLOGIC, INFECTIOUS, AND NEOPLASTIC DISEASES IN HUMANS IS PROJECTED TO INCREASE SHARPLY IN THE UPCOMING YEARS.

THE USE OF IN VITRO PRODUCED MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES FOR THE TREATMENT OF IMMUNOLOGIC, INFECTIOUS, AND NEOPLASTIC DISEASES IN HUMANS IS PROJECTED TO INCREASE SHARPLY IN THE UPCOMING YEARS. VERAX CORPORATION HAS DEVELOPED A NOVEL SYSTEM FOR THE MASS CULTURE OF HYBRIDOMA CELLS AS WELL AS SEVERAL PROPRIETARY SERUM-FREE MEDIA. IN A LARGE-SCALE CONTINUOUS CULTURE SYSTEM, ALBUMIN-CONTAINING MEDIUM IS MOREEFFECTIVE IN SUPPORTING HYBRIDOMA CULTURES THAN IS MEDIUM THAT LACKS ALBUMIN, BUT IS SUPPLEMENTED WITH OTHER LIPID- CARRYING COMPONENTS. THIS PROJECT WILL EXTEND THE DEVELOP- MENT OF SERUM-FREE MEDIUM FOR THE CULTURE OF HYBRIDOMA CELLSBY USING LIPID-CARRYING FRAGMENTS OF ALBUMIN TO REPLACE THE USE OF THE WHOLE MOLECULE. PURIFIED BOVINE SERUM ALBUMIN WILL BE CLEAVED BY CHEMICAL AND ENZYMATIC MEANS AND VARIOUS PEPTIDES SEPARATED BY HIGH PERFORMANCE ION EXCHANGE AND GEL FILTRATION CHROMATOGRAPHY. THE FATTY ACID BINDING CAPABILI-TIES, AS WELL AS THE POSSIBLE DETOXIFICATION POTENTIAL OF THESE FRAGMENTS, WILL THEN BE STUDIED IN VITRO. THE USE OF A SERUM-FREE MEDIUM FOR TISSUE CULTURE THAT CONTAINS SMALL POLYPEPTIDE(S) COULD PROVE TO BE EXTREMELY ECONOMICAL BY CUTTING COSTS IN THE PREPARATION OF MEDIUM AND IN THE PURIFICATION OF THE ANTIBODY. WHILE THIS STUDY WILL UTILIZEHYBRIDOMA CELLS, THE USES OF THIS MEDIUM MAY NOT BE LIMITED TO THIS CELL TYPE.