Analysis and quantification of the secretory products of the subcommissural organ by use of monoclonal antibodies

Bovine Reissner's fiber (RF) glycoproteins were used as antigen for the production of polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies (Mabs). We also produced Mabs against intracellular secretory glycoproteins of the bovine subcommissural organ (SCO). These Mabs were used for immunodetection of secretory proteins in situ (structural and ultrastructural immunocytochemistry), in blots, and in solutions. Three different antigen-mediated ELISA were designed to evaluate the affinity of the Mabs, to study the nature of the epitopes, and for competition test among Mabs. Two double antibody sandwich ELISA were designed to detect and quantify soluble secretory materials in different samples, to study coexistence of epitopes, and to elucidate whether epitopes for Mabs are repeated or not in the RF-glycoproteins. Twenty-three Mabs recognizing the bovine RF- and SCO-glycoproteins in solutions (ELISA) as well as in tissue sections, were obtained. Nineteen of these Mabs also recognized the pig SCO, 11 the rabbit SCO, 6 the dog SCO, and 5 the rat SCO. None of the Mabs recognized the SCO of non-mammalian species. The different types of ELISA demonstrated that: (1) the epitopes reside in the proteinaceous moiety of the secretion, (2) they coexist in the same molecular forms and, with few exceptions, they did not overlap, (3) they were not repeated in the secretory molecule(s). Three Mabs were used for immunoblotting of RF; one of them revealed the same band pattern as that shown by an anti-RF serum. It is concluded that all Mabs raised in our laboratory are directed against non-repeated sequences of RF-glycoproteins that have not been conserved in vertebrate phylogeny. Microsc. Res. Tech. 52:510-519, 2001. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.