Monoclonal antibodies against synthetic sequences of the nicotinic receptor cross-react fully with the native receptor and reveal the transmembrane disposition of their epitopes.

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were derived from mice immunized with synthetic peptide sequence regions of the alpha subunit of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor from Torpedo electric tissue (TAChR). Sequence-specific mAbs were obtained against the following peptides: alpha 1-20, alpha 291-308, alpha 304-322, alpha 332-350, alpha 346-364, alpha 360-378, alpha 376-393, alpha 390-409, and alpha 420-437. The ability of mAbs to recognize native TAChR was quantitated by immunoprecipitation of TAChR solubilized in the nondenaturing detergent Triton X-100. mAbs against peptide alpha 304-322, alpha 332-350, and alpha 360-378 cross-reacted with most or all Triton-solubilized TAChR molecules and, in immunoelectron microscopy experiments, bound to the cytoplasmic surface of AChR-rich postsynaptic membrane fragments. Two mAbs specific for the sequence alpha 376-393, proposed to form an amphypathic alpha helix possibly involved in formation of the ion channel, recognized only approximately 35% of Triton-solubilized TAChR molecules and did not react with membrane-bound TAChR. All of these sequence-specific antibodies recognized SDS-denatured TAChR alpha subunit in Western blots. MAbs specific for the amino-terminal sequence region of the alpha subunit, alpha 1-20, and for the sequences alpha 291-308, alpha 346-364, and alpha 390-409 did not recognize native TAChR. A mAb directed against the carboxyl-terminal region, alpha 420-437, recognized with low apparent titer Triton-solubilized TAChR, not membrane-bound TAChR. In conclusion, a complex membrane protein, TAChR, contains several continuous sequence segments exposed on the TAChR surface, because different mAbs raised against certain synthetic sequences recognized most or all native TAChR molecules. By analogy, it should be possible for most proteins of known sequence to raise anti-peptide antibodies fully cross-reactive with the native cognate protein.