A new common polysaccharide antigen of strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa detected with a monoclonal antibody.

A monoclonal antibody, E87, that binds to various serotype strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was produced by a hybridoma cell line prepared by fusion of mouse plasmacytoma P3-X63-Ag8-U1 with spleen cells of mice immunized with P. aeruginosa strain IFO3080 (serotype M). E87 bound to approximately 80% of the tested strains of various serotypes of P. aeruginosa. The antigen recognized with E87 was found in the lipopolysaccharide and was eluted in void volume fractions of Sephadex G50 column chromatography after acetic acid treatment. This antigen was eluted in the fraction containing substances of lower molecular weight than the O side chain by Sephacryl S-300 column chromatography, and this fraction was found to be the peak fraction of hexose. This antigen was not separated from the O side chain by Sephacryl S-300 column chromatography of untreated lipopolysaccharide. Colorimetric analyses and thin-layer chromatography showed that this antigen consisted mainly of rhamnose and ribose (molar ratio, 10:1).