A monoclonal antibody that specifically inhibits human salivary alpha-amylase.

Our monoclonal antibody 88E8 specifically binds to and inhibits human salivary alpha-amylase (EC 3.2.1.1) and cross reacts negligibly with the pancreatic isoenzyme, inhibiting it by less than 1%, as compared with about 90% for the salivary isoenzyme. The antibody binds the S1 and S2 types of salivary alpha-amylase, but no pancreatic alpha-amylase isoenzyme forms. A pancreatic alpha-amylase assay involving 88E8 is under development, with alpha-glucosidase as auxiliary enzyme and p-nitrophenyl-maltoheptaoside as substrate; we give preliminary data on this assay. The assay has to be done by substrate start, because the antibody interacts very slowly with the enzyme in the presence of substrate. Assay results for pancreatic alpha-amylase correlate well with those for isoamylase assayed with use of an inhibitor from wheat-germ.