Production, characterization, and protective effect of monoclonal antibodies to Clostridium chauvoei flagella.

Monoclonal antibodies to flagella of Clostridium chauvoei were obtained by the fusion of murine myeloma cells (P3-X63-Ag8-U1) and spleen cells from BALB/c mice immunized with partially purified flagella of strain Okinawa. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and Western blot analysis with partially purified flagella, flagellated cells, and nonflagellated mutants were used to show that five monoclonal antibodies are specific for the flagella. In the Western blot analysis, all five antiflagellar antibodies reacted strongly with the 56,000-molecular-weight protein, which corresponds to the flagellin. By using the ELISA-derived reactivity of monoclonal antibodies to the various clostridia and the competitive binding assay, we showed that the flagella of C. chauvoei had at least three epitopes. The three antiflagellar monoclonal antibodies (one immunoglobulin G and two immunoglobulin M) demonstrated passive protective effects in mice. These results strongly suggest that the flagella of C. chauvoei are important for protective immunity in mice.