Monoclonal antibodies against camel (Camelus dromedarius) IgG, IgM and light chains.

Monoclonal antibodies specific for camel IgG and IgM heavy chains and immunoglobulin light chains were produced by a simple, time-saving and efficient method. Popliteal lymph nodes isolated 9 days after a primary foot-pad immunisation were used as the source of antibody producing hybridoma cells. Ascites was induced in mice and ascitic fluid collected. The specificity of anti-IgG and anti-IgM monoclonal antibodies was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and Western blotting. Monoclonal antibodies specifically reacting to IgG1 subclasses were demonstrated; no monoclonal antibodies specific to IgG2 or IgG3 were generated. An unexpected finding was that some class-specific monoclonal antibodies were light chain, and not heavy chain, reactive.