Monoclonal
Encyclopedia
Monoclonal cells are defined as a group of cells produced from a single ancestral cell by repeated cellular replication. Thus they can be said to form a single "clone". The process of replication can occur in vivo
, or may be stimulated in vitro
for laboratory manipulations. The use of the term typically implies that there is some method to distinguish between the cells of the original population from which the single ancestral cell is derived, such as a random genetic alteration, which is inherited by the progeny.
The most common usages of this term are:
In vivo
In vivo is experimentation using a whole, living organism as opposed to a partial or dead organism, or an in vitro controlled environment. Animal testing and clinical trials are two forms of in vivo research...
, or may be stimulated in vitro
In vitro
In vitro refers to studies in experimental biology that are conducted using components of an organism that have been isolated from their usual biological context in order to permit a more detailed or more convenient analysis than can be done with whole organisms. Colloquially, these experiments...
for laboratory manipulations. The use of the term typically implies that there is some method to distinguish between the cells of the original population from which the single ancestral cell is derived, such as a random genetic alteration, which is inherited by the progeny.
The most common usages of this term are:
- Monoclonal antibodiesMonoclonal antibodiesMonoclonal antibodies are monospecific antibodies that are the same because they are made by identical immune cells that are all clones of a unique parent cell....
: A single hybridomaHybridomaHybridoma technology is a technology of forming hybrid cell lines by fusing a specific antibody-producing B cell with a myeloma cell that is selected for its ability to grow in tissue culture and for an absence of antibody chain synthesis...
cell, which by chance includes the appropriate V(D)J recombinationV(D)J recombinationVJ recombination, also known as somatic recombination, is a mechanism of genetic recombination in the early stages of immunoglobulin and T cell receptors production of the immune system...
to produce the desired antibody, is cloned to produce a large population of identical cells. In informal laboratory jargon the monoclonal antibodies isolated from cell cultureCell cultureCell culture is the complex process by which cells are grown under controlled conditions. In practice, the term "cell culture" has come to refer to the culturing of cells derived from singlecellular eukaryotes, especially animal cells. However, there are also cultures of plants, fungi and microbes,...
supernatants of these hybridoma clones (hybridoma "lines") are simply called "monoclonals". - Monoclonal neoplasms (tumors): A single aberrant cell which has undergone an oncogenic event reproduces itself into a large cancerous mass.