Monoclonal antibodies specific for Onchocerca volvulus as determined by immunofluorescence

Abstract Nogami S. , Hayashi Y. , Korenaga M. , Tada I. and tanaka H. 1988. Monoclonal antibodies specific for Onchocerca volvulus as determined by immunofluorescence. International Journal for Parasitology 18 : 503–507. A total of four murine monoclonal antibodies (mAb) was determined to be specific for Onchocerca volvulus when examined by immunofluorescence. Adult Ascaris suum as antigen was used to eliminate cross-reactive mAb during screening of clonal products from mice immunized with O. volvulus extracts. The selected mAbs were further examined for specificity using 13 species of filarial and non-filarial helminths. Four mAbs, non-reactive to A. suum , reacted to O. volvulus alone but did not react to the other 12 helminths, suggesting that A. suum may be an effective tool for selecting O. volvulus -specific mAb. The isotypes of these four mAbs were all IgG; i.e. three were of the IgG1 subclass and one was IgG2a. Worm antigen sites bound by these specific mAbs were all in the intestinal tissue of adult O. volvulus . Analysis with polyacrylamide slab gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS-PAGE) and immunoblotting revealed that an epitope specific for O. volvulus exists on a M r 27,000 polypeptide.