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Title: DEVELOPMENT OF NEW MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES SPECIFIC FOR BOTULINUM NEUROTOXIN TYPE A

Author
item Stanker, Larry
item Merrill, Paul
item Cheng, Luisa
item Carter, John
item Brandon, David

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/31/2006
Publication Date: 6/21/2006
Citation: Stanker, L.H., Merrill, P.A., Cheng, L.W., Carter, J.M., Brandon, D.L. 2006. Development of new monoclonal antibodies specific for botulinum neurotoxin type a. [Abstract]. ACS National Meeting. Oral Presentation AGRO 235.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Clostridium botulinum neurotoxins (BoNT) cause severe neuroparalytic disease and are considered the most toxic biological agents known. While botulism is rare in the US, it often is fatal if not treated quickly, and recovery is long, requiring intensive treatment. BoNT is produced as a single 150 kDa precursor, which is cleaved to form two subunit chains linked by a single disulfide bond. BoNT detection relies on the mouse bioassay. Although it is time consuming (up to 4 days) and lacks specificity, it gives a sensitivity of ~10 pg/mL, and most BoNT immunoassays are much less sensitive. In this study we describe the development of new monoclonal antibodies (MAb). These are IgG1 subclass MAb with kappa light chains that specifically bind BoNT type A. Western blot analysis demonstrated that they bind the 100 kDa heavy-chain subunit, but not the 50 kDa light-chain. Further characterization of these MAb and their application to rapid immunoassay formats will be discussed.