Monoclonal antibody which distinguishes helper inducer and suppressor inducer CD4+ lymphocytes

摘要

A monoclonal antibody which binds preferentially to a subset of the human CD4+ lymphocyte population whereby to positively and precisely distinguish between helper-inducer and suppressor-inducer cells in the CD4+ cell population. The monoclonal antibody recognizes a novel antigen on the CD4+ lymphocytes by means of which it can bind CD4+ cells which express the antigen on the surface of CD4+ cells. The CD4+ subset cell population to which this antibody preferentially binds is the CD4+ helper- inducer population. This selectivity of the monoclonal antibody enables cell sorting, diagnostic and possible therapeutic applications thereof to be realized. The monoclonal antibody also reacts with CD8 cells, B cells and macrophages.