Immunization of hu-PBL–SCID mice and the rescue of human monoclonal Fab fragments through combinatorial libraries

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Abstract
ANTIBODIES are usually prepared from recently boosted animals and reflect ongoing immune responses1–6. In humans, this is restrictive as ethical constraints generally prevent antigen-boosting. Therefore the rich memory compartment of human antibody responses remains largely untapped7. Severe combined immune deficiency (SCID) mice8 populated with human cells9–11allow the stimulation of human antibody memory without the usual constraints. Here we show how peripheral blood lymphocytes can be stimulated by antigen to produce large secondary responses after transfer to SCID mice. Specific monoclonal human Fab fragments can then be isolated from the mice by repertoire cloning even when the human donor's last contact with antigen was more than 17 years ago.