Functional immunoglobulin M production after transfection of cloned immunoglobulin heavy and light chain genes into lymphoid cells.

The rearranged immunoglobulin heavy (mu) and light (kappa) chain genes cloned from the Sp6 hybridoma cell line producing immunoglobulin M specific for the hapten 2,4, 6-trinitrophenyl were inserted into the transfer vector pSV2-neo and introduced into various plasmacytoma and hybridoma cell lines. The transfer of the mu and kappa genes resulted in the production of pentameric, hapten-specific, functional IgM.