ANTI-LIPOARABINOMANNAN ANTIBODIES AND IMMUNOASSAY OF MYCOBACTERIOSIS USING ANTIBODIES

摘要

To provide monoclonal antibodies that specifically bind to lipoarabinomannan (LAM) of mycobacteria, in particular, of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.SOLUTION: Disclosed herein is an antibody capable of specifically detecting mycobacterial LAM discriminating it from other bacterial LAM or membrane antigens having similar structures with a sensitivity equal to the gene amplification method, which antibody is obtainable with devised animals for immunization, immunogen, monoclonal antibody preparation techniques and selection methods. Also disclosed are a method and a kit for detecting a mycobacterium using the antibody. The monoclonal antibody of the invention comprises a heavy chain variable region comprising heavy chain CDR1-CDR3 of specific sequences and a light chain variable region comprising light chain CDR1-CDR3 of specific sequences where the variable regions are linked through a linker.SELECTED DRAWING: None