Generation and characterization of murine monoclonal antibodies to genus-specific 31-kilodalton recombinant cell surface protein of Brucella abortus.

In the present study hybridomas were produced from fusion with splenocytes of BALB/c mice immunized with the recombinant 31-kDa cell surface protein (r31CSP) specific for Brucella species. A set of eight stabilized hybridoma cell lines was generated against r31CSP. Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) produced by all these clones exhibited reactivity for r31CSP as well as with the protein of 31-kDa, derived from whole-cell lysate of 31-kDa Brucella abortus 544. Four of eight MAbs were IgG1, two IgG2b, and two IgM in nature. These MAbs did not show any cross-reaction with whole-cell lysate of Yersinia enterocolitica O: 9, Vibrio cholerae, Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli 0157 by Western blotting. Reactivity of these MAbs was further assessed with other organisms of Brucella species namely, B. abortus S99, B. canis, B. melitensis 16M, B. suis, and a clinical isolate of B. melitensis. Collectively, these data suggest that these MAbs may have the potential for use in the detection of Brucella species with high specificity.