Latex-agglutination analysis of human recombinant interleukin-2 with monoclonal antibodies.

Hybridomas producing monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) to human interleukin-2 have been obtained. The antibodies have been characterised in terms of binding constant, subclass, and cross-reaction with proteins from Escherichia coli and human blood serum. The epitope for the monoclonal antibody LNKB-2, namely the 66-72 fragment of the interleukin-2 molecule, has been located. From the antibodies obtained, two capable of reacting simultaneously with the monomeric form of interleukin-2 have been selected and a rapid simple Mab-based latex-agglutination assay which can detect as little as 1.5 ng ml-1 interleukin-2 has been developed.