IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SEROTYPE 4-SPECIFIC ANTIGENS OF UREAPLASMA-UREALYTICUM BY USE OF MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODIES

Monoclonal antibodies against Ureaplasma urealyticum serotype 4 were p roduced by immunizing BALB/c mice with whole-cell antigens of the U. u realyticum serotype 4 reference strain. Ten monoclonal antibodies diff erentiated into two groups were found: one group included five monoclo nal antibodies recognizing a band in immunoblotting that had a molecul ar mass of 81 kDa, and a second group included another five monoclonal antibodies recognizing three bands in immunoblotting that had molecul ar masses of 81, 75, and 71 kDa. Fifteen clinical U. urealyticum isola tes were selected for serotyping with serotype 4-specific monoclonal a ntibodies and polyclonal antisera 1 to 14. The results obtained with p olyclonal and monoclonal antibodies suggest the existence of heterogen eity of the serotype antigens among clinical isolates of U. urealyticu m serotype 4.