SPECIFICITY OF AN ANTI-ALUMINUM MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODY TOWARD FREE AND PROTEIN-BOUND ALUMINUM

Anti-aluminium monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were prepared using alumin ium chloride-bovine serum albumin complex (Al-BSA) as immunogen. Compe titive enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA), using an Al-BSA coat ed immunoplate, demonstrated that mice immune sera showed stronger rea ctivity to AlCl3 than to BSA. Supernatants from hybridomas prepared fr om cloned anti-Al antibody-producing cells reacted ir. ELISA assays wh ether the metal was bound to proteins like calmodulin (CaM) and S100b protein or to immunogen BSA. Moreover, addition of citrate, a potent l igand for trivalent cations, resulted in a significant withdrawal in m Ab recognition of aluminium which was previously bound to either CaM o r S100b proteins. The anti-Al mAbs also reacted with aluminosilicate c omplexes formed from aluminium chloride and silicic acid. The results indicate that the monoclonal antibodies recognized aluminium alone, al uminium bound to silicate, or aluminium bound to a protein core and th us may be used as an immunologic tool for identifying aluminium in bot h in vitro and in vivo systems. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc. All rig hts reserved.