Abstracto
- Seven murine monoclonal antibodies against Bothrops asper myotoxin were produced and partially characterized. They revealed the presence of at least four cross-reacting basic components in crude venom, with a common subunit mol. wt of 16,000 by sodium dodecylsulfate - polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, but slight differences in charge. These myotoxin-related components might be isoforms of the toxin. By Western blotting and enzyme-immunoassay binding techniques, differences in the reactivities with basic venom fractions were observed among monoclonal antibodies, suggesting differences in epitope specificities. Three antibodies cross-reacted with B. nummifer crude venom. Two monoclonal antibodies were utilized to develop a two-site enzyme-immunoassay for myotoxin detection at the nanogram level. Three of the antibodies (one IgM and two IgG1) showed ability to neutralize myotoxicity of purified myotoxin in preincubation type experiments.