Monoclonal Antibodies Unit

This unit was established as special unit following the Immunology department, since the establishment of Theodor Bilharz Research Institute. The trial production of Monoclonal antibodies started in 1990, the official production started in 1992.

1) Monoclonal Antibody Production Unit:

The laboratory was established for the production of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and it consists of:

• Preparation area (area C): Including hand sterilization area, benches for preparation of reagents, lockers, and units for storage of plastic ware, gowns, and overshoes.
• Working area (area B): Tissue culture area

 This area is equipped with:

• • •  CO2 incubator (Thermo Scientific, USA).
    •  Cooling centrifuge (Eppendorf, Germany).
    •  Laminar flow (Telstar, Spain).
    •  Ordinary microscope (Olympus, Japan).
    •  Inverted microscope (Olympus, Japan).
    •  Digital camera with adaptor for ordinary and inverted microscopes (Olympus, Japan).
    •  Refrigerator.

– Both areas are separated with a partition.

2) Cryopreservation Unit:

­ For storage of cells in liquid nitrogen (-196).

­ Equipped with:

• • •  Liquid nitrogen tank: as a reservoir for liquid nitrogen.
    •  2 Liquid nitrogen locators with racks (Thermo Scientific, USA): for storage of samples.
    •  Controlled-rate freezer (Thermo Scientific, USA)

3) Storage Unit:

– For storing sterile disposables.

CURRENT RESEARCHES IN THE CENTER

1.  A study designed to optimize an easy and reliable method for obtaining stable hybridoma cultures and their explosion into medium-scale cultures; as a continuous source of monoclonal antibodies with a better purification potential.
2.  A work aims at the development of a novel simple, field applicable, rapid and sensitive antigen detection assay for diagnosis of active schistosomiasis by the employment of our anti-Schistosoma MAbs conjugated with nanoparticles in an immunostrip assay. This immunostrip will be promoted to be used in endemic areas, after its registration and multicenter evaluation, to meet the current challenges in diseases control and prevention.

SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE CENTER

1.  Diagnosis of active schistosomiasis infection, using MAb- based sandwich ELISA. This service was provided since 1995 for in and out patients of TBRI, health insurance patients (MOH), referred patients.
2.  Training of Egyptian and African scientists on techniques for monoclonal antibodies production, characterization, and application in immunodiagnostic assays.
3.  Cryopreservation of biological samples.
4.  Production of Myeloma cells.
5.  Running optimization for development and commercialization of immune-diagnostic kits for endemic diseases by employment of the produced MAb in different diagnostic techniques such as: ELISA, nanoparticles – modified sandwich ELISA, and an Immunostrip assay using Nanoparticles.