Universal rosetting reagent for the detection of human cell surface markers.

The extensive use of monoclonal antibodies for the detection of human cell surface markers has necessitated the development of a simple, reproducible reagent which can be applied universally to any mouse anti-human antibody. We have developed a rosetting reagent which is composed of ox red blood cells, rabbit anti-ox RBC antibody, protein A, and rabbit anti-mouse Ig antibody. This reagent binds specifically to human lymphocytes coated with mouse monoclonal antibody, is as sensitive as immunofluorescence and gives comparable results with fresh and frozen peripheral blood lymphocytes. Sensitivity, reliability, and ease of quantitation make this an extremely practical reagent, and its versatility makes it especially useful for large scale studies of human T cell markers.