Human foam cells and methods for preparing them, monoclonal antibodies to said foam cells and their pharmaceutical and diagnostic use

摘要

The present invention relates to human foam cells generated in vitro from monocyte/macrophage related cell lines which give rise to an average intracellular cholesterol amount of at least 139 + 36 mu g/mg cell protein as determined by HPLC, with said cholesterol being characterized by a degree of 46+6% of esterification as determined by HPLC. The invention also relates to monoclonal antibodies selected via said foam cells and which can be used for pharmaceutical and diagnostic purposes.