Human B Cell Immortalization for Monoclonal Antibody Production

: Infection of primary B lymphocytes with Epstein-Barr virus gives rise to growth-transformed and immortalized lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCL) in vitro. Among their many applications is the use of LCL to present antigens in a variety of immunologic assays and to generate human monoclonal antibodies. This chapter describes a method to generate LCL from donor peripheral blood with rapid immortalization and cryopreservation times.