Isolation of monoclonal antibodies against avian oncornaviral protein p19

Abstract

For the production of monoclonal antibodies against pp60src and the gag precursor protein Pr76gag, spleens of mice bearing tumors induced by avian sarcoma virus Schmidt-Ruppin D-transformed cells were used. One hybridoma culture produced antibodies that were directed against the p19 portion of the gag precursor. No antibodies directed against pp60src could be detected in any of the hybridoma supernatants. The anti-p19-producing hybridoma culture was cloned twice in soft agar and a stable clone was used for the production of high-titer ascites fluid in mice. The monoclonal antibodies belonged to the IgG subclass 2b. The antibodies precipitated Pr76gag, the processed virion-associated p19 and the 75,000-MW gag fusion protein from avian erythroblastosis virus-transformed bone marrow cells. Viral ribonucleoprotein complexes were specifically precipitable, indicating that they contain p19 molecules.