PRODUCTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODIES RECOGNIZING DEFINED REGIONS OF THE HUMAN ESTROGEN-RECEPTOR

Mouse monoclonal antibodies were raised against the N-terminal (amino acids 151-165) and the very C-terminal (amino acids 578-595) regions o f the human oestrogen receptor (hER). These antibodies recognise the h ER by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, immunocytochemistry, immunobl otting, immunoprecipitation and gel retardation assays. The presence o f hER is used prognostically in human breast cancer. We have tested th e reactivity of our monoclonal antibodies on breast cancer sections, c omparing with the commonly used Abbott rat monoclonal antibody H222. T hese studies show that the two monoclonal antibodies described here ar e highly versatile and will be useful tools for in vivo and in vitro s tudies of hER function. Furthermore, we show that the corresponding ep itopes can be used as molecular ''tags'' for heterologous proteins and offer a powerful means of purifying and/or characterizing over-produc ed fusion proteins containing these regions.