There is no doubt that the introduction of monoclonal antibodies revolutionized immunology.
The ease and reproducibility of the various techniques for preparing murine monoclonal antibodies, using both cellular and molecular techniques, have had a major impact on their rapid and comprehensive expansion. The development of human monoclonal antibodies has been inspired primarily by the enormous clinical benefi ts promised by these reagents, used as anti-infl ammatory reagents, anti-tumor reagents, and reagents for passive immunization.
Initially, some technical and ethical obstacles hampered the development of entirely human monoclonal antibodies, prompting the development of chimeric and humanized monoclonal antibodies. The development of an immune response against the mouse residual fragment in these antibodies stressed the need for complete human antibodies. Today, the development of advanced cellular and molecular techniques enables the production of human antibodies with any required specifi city. Considering the rapid improvement in the methods involved in making human monoclonal antibodies, it is expected that their impact will gradually be of major importance in the clinical setting.
This volume presents technical protocols of cellular and molecular methods for the production, purifi cation, and application of human monoclonal antibodies. In addition, this volume presents also a few review articles related to the topic of human monoclonal