Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, 01 1994, 63-67, Vol 1, No. 1
Copyright © 1994 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Monoclonal antibodies against a 97-kilodalton antigen from Aspergillus flavus

SV Hetherington, S Henwick, DM Parham and CC Patrick
Department of Infectious Diseases, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38101-0318, USA.

We prepared a panel of five monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) directed against Aspergillus flavus that all reacted against one 97-kDa antigen by western blot (immunoblot). Flow cytometry demonstrated that these antibodies bound (in increasing degrees) to all morphologic stages of A. flavus growth: conidia, swollen conidia, and hyphae. Cross- reactivity among species was examined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay of fungal culture filtrates. Four MAbs reacted with 10 of 11 A. flavus isolates, and the fifth one reacted with 9 of them. One MAb also reacted with A. fumigatus, two reacted with A. niger, A. wentii, and A. nidulans, and all five reacted with A. ochraceus. None reacted with A. terreus, A. glaucus, A. versicolor, or a Penicillium species. Each MAb bound to A. flavus hyphae in formalin-fixed paraffin sections of a muscle biopsy from a confirmed human case of invasive aspergillosis. In summary, these MAbs identified a 97-kDa antigen found on A. flavus that is both surface bound and an exoantigen. Either the same or a cross- reacting antigen is present in A. fumigatus and other Aspergillus species.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Fenelon, L. E., Hamilton, A. J., Figueroa, J. I., Bartholomew, M. A., Allen, M. H., McCarthy, P., Hay, R. J. (1999). Production of Specific Monoclonal Antibodies to Aspergillus Species and Their Use in Immunohistochemical Identification of Aspergillosis. J. Clin. Microbiol. 37: 1221-1223 [Abstract] [Full Text]