Monoclonal antibodies against the Escherichia coli DNA repair protein RadA/Sms.

The RadA/Sms protein facilitates DNA repair in Escherichia coli cells damaged by UV radiation, X-rays, and chemical agents. However, the precise mechanism by which RadA/Sms aids DNA repair is unknown. Here we report the production of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) specific for RadA/Sms for use in biochemical and physiological investigations. Histidine-tagged RadA/Sms (RadA-6xHis) was overproduced in E. coli BL21 cells transformed with the radA/sms coding region in plasmid pRSET A and purified by nickel affinity chromatography. Splenocytes from female BALB/c mice hyperimmunized with the purified protein were fused to SP2/0-Ag14 myeloma cells, and the resultant hybridomas were selected in HAT medium. MAbs were detected in hybridoma culture supernatants by indirect ELISA and Western blot analysis against purified RadA-6xHis. MAbs from four cell lines were further evaluated by Western blotting against peptide maps generated by endoproteinase Glu-C digestion of RadA-6xHis. Each of the four MAbs recognized a unique epitope on the fusion protein. Two of the MAbs (6F5 and 2A2) also detected wild-type (tagless) RadA/Sms produced from the pJS003 plasmid in E. coli K-12 cells. We anticipate that these antibodies will prove useful for the detection, isolation, and functional analysis of RadA/Sms.