METHODS FOR SCREENING MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES ON HETEROGENEOUS ANTIGEN SUBSTRATES
Methods, compounds, and polyclonal antibody libraries (PALs) that relate to screeing and selection of antibodies and the cells that produce them are disclosed. In particular, an antigen or a subset of antigens which has some desired feature can be distinguished from a multitude of other undesired antigens present in a heterogeneous antigen mixture which lack such feature by use of PALs raised against the undesired antigens. When such PALs are brought into contact with a heterogeneous antigen substrate, the antibodies in the PAL can bind to those antigens, masking them from subsequenty binding by a test antibody having a similar specificity. By decreasing binding of test antibodies to those undesired antigens, if binding of test antibodies to the substrate occurs, such binding will more likely be by way of binding of the antibody to a desired antigen in the mixed antigen substrate. Thus, this invention can improve the efficiency of screening antibodies directed towards desired antigens. By appropriate selection of a PAL, effects such as false positives can be decreased, even for unknown undesirable antigens.