A method to produce a cell expressing an antibody from a genomic sequence
of the cell comprising a modified immunoglobulin locus using Cre-mediated
site-specific recombination is disclosed. The method involves first
transfecting an antibody-producing cell with a homology-targeting vector
comprising a lox site and a targeting sequence homologous to a first DNA
sequence adjacent to the region of the immunoglobulin loci of the genomic
sequence which is to be converted to a modified region, so the first lox
site is inserted into the genomic sequence via site-specific homologous
recombination. Then the cell is transfected with a lox-targeting vector
comprising a second lox site suitable for Cre-mediated recombination with
the integrated lox site and a modifying sequence to convert the region of
the immunoglobulin loci to the modified region. This conversion is
performed by interacting the lox sites with Cre in vivo, so that the
modifying sequence inserts into the genomic sequence via Cre-mediated
site-specific recombination of the lox sites. Also disclosed are a form
of the method used to produce a cell expressing a modified antibody
molecule using Cre-mediated site-specific recombination, and
antibody-producing cells obtainable by the disclosed methods.
Class-switching modifications of human antibodies produced in murine
hybridoma cells are exemplified.