Isolation and Characterization of Monoclonal Antibodies Monospecific for Bovine -Casein and ß-Casein

¹ Specialized Center for Cancer Research and Education, University of Illinois School of Medicine at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612

Two monoclonal antibodies monospecific for bovine _s1-casein, which recognize three genetic variants of _s1-casein, have been isolated and their binding properties characterized. Antibodies 57–115 and 57–310 recognize different antigenic determinants on the _s1 protein with affinity constants of 1.63 x 10¹¹ and 2.13 x 10¹¹ M^–1, respectively.

Five monoclonal antibodies, 58–409, 58–416, 58–488, 58–504, and 58–557, monospecific for bovine ß-casein with affinity constants >10⁹ M^–1, which recognize a similar epitope(s) also were isolated. All seven antibodies are of isotype IgG₁ and recognize both the denatured and undenatured forms of their antigen, making them suitable for qualitative and quantitative radioimmunoassay.

Key Words: monoclonal antibodies • _s1-casein • ßbeta;-casein

Submitted on April 6, 1990
Accepted on July 5, 1990