A simple hemagglutination method for the detection of cell surface antigens

A rapid, easy and reproducible hemagglutination method is described for the detection of cell surface antigens. This method can be used for the determination of cell subpopulations and the screening of monoclonal antibody-secreting hybridomas. Fresh or paraformaldehyde-fixed cells, which have previously been labeled with an appropriate monoclonal antibody (of known or unknown specificity), are reacted with human erythrocytes coupled with the second antibody (rabbit anti-mouse immunoglobulins), in a round bottomed 96-well microtiter plate. The presence of specific agglutination and the end-point of serial dilutions of the labeled cells with unlabeled ones give an approximate estimation of the percentage of cells reacting with the monoclonal antibody under examination. The hemagglutination results correlate well with the results obtained using a conventional immunofluorescence method.