Monoclonal Antibody Supernatant and Ascites Fluid Production A major advantage of using monoclonal antibodies over polyclonal antisera

A major advantage of using monoclonal antibodies over polyclonal antisera is the potential availability of large quantities of the specific monoclonal antibody. In general, preparations containing the monoclonal antibody include a hybridoma supernatant, ascites fluid from a mouse inoculated with the hybridoma, and purified monoclonal antibody. Hybridoma supernatants are easy to produce, especially for large numbers of different monoclonal antibodies, but are relatively low in monoclonal antibody concentration. Ascites fluid contains a high concentration of the monoclonal antibody but the fluid is not a pure monoclonal antibody preparation. To obtain a purified preparation of the monoclonal antibody, affinity chromatography (APPENDIX 3) of culture supernatants or ascites fluid can be performed; however, this obviously requires more effort (see Commentary).