Generation of monoclonal antibodies against human regulatory T cells

Natural CD4+CD25+Foxp3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) control the activation of the immune system and therefore have become a major area of research in immunology. The generation of monoclonal antibodies against human Tregs offers the possibility to discover novel Treg-specific or Treg-associated surface markers and to identify targets for a therapeutic modulation of Tregs. Here we present a methodology optimized to efficiently induce and select mAb against human Tregs by repeated immunization of mice with Tregs from a single donor and a differential two-step flow cytometry-based hybridoma screening procedure.