Method to produce immunodiagnostic reagents

摘要

Screening methods to obtain suitable antibodies for use in immunoassays for analytes not ordinarily susceptible to detection by these methods involves in vitro screening of panels of cells secreting a representative selection of antibodies. An application of this method also permits the preparation of specific mimotopes which mimic the immunological activity of the desired analyte, which mimotopes can then be used as competitors in the immunoassay or can be used to immunize subject mammals in order to improve the specificity and affinity of the antibodies. Methods to identify a particular analyte by its pattern of binding strength to a panel of related antibodies and to match an arbitrary analyte with an immunoreactive member of a panel of candidate antibodies are also disclosed. These screening methods can also be employed for rational drug design.