Detection of constant domain of human T cell antigen receptor alpha-chain via novel monoclonal antibody 7F18

• Published in: Monoclonal antibodies in immunodiagnosis and immunotherapy Vol. 33; no. 6; p. 386
• Main Authors: Reed, Brendan K, Lee, Kyoo-A, Bell, Michael P, Gil, Diana, Schrum, Adam G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.12.2014
• Subjects: Adaptive Immunity - genetics; Adaptive Immunity - immunology; Animals; Antibodies, Monoclonal - biosynthesis; Antibodies, Monoclonal - immunology; Antibodies, Monoclonal - metabolism; Blotting, Western; Chlorocebus aethiops; Chromatography, Gel; Computational Biology; COS Cells; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; Genetic Engineering; Humans; Immunoprecipitation; Jurkat Cells; Peptides - genetics; Protein Structure, Tertiary - genetics; Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta - genetics; Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta - immunology; Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell, alpha-beta - metabolism
• ISSN: 2167-9436
• DOI: 10.1089/mab.2013.0086

The αβ T cell antigen receptor (TCR) endows T lymphocytes with immune specificity and controls their effector functions. Each person possesses a vast repertoire of TCRs that is generated by the well-studied processes of somatic recombination and thymic selection. While many antibodies specific for TCRβ variable domains are available, antibodies specific for human TCRα are rare. We now report a novel monoclonal antibody, 7F18, which binds to human TCRα constant region, with specificity for a denatured epitope that can be visualized by SDS-PAGE followed by Western blot. Both immature and mature TCR α-chain products can be visualized, making 7F18 potentially applicable to various biochemical assays of multiprotein complex assembly and maturation. This new monoclonal antibody provides a tool that can potentially facilitate the biochemical analysis of comprehensive populations of human αβ TCR complexes that need not be limited to small subsets of the repertoire.