Establishment of anti-asialo-GM1 rabbit monoclonal antibodies capable of reducing natural killer cell activity in mice

Characterization of anti-asialo-GM1 monoclonal antibody

Asialo-GM1 (ASGM1) has been identified as a cell surface marker of murine NK cells. Although polyclonal anti-asialo-GM1 antibodies (anti-ASGM1 pAb) have been widely used for studying natural killer (NK) cell functions in vivo, the technical challenges have existed in their specificity for NK cell depletion. Furthermore, the exact expression of ASGM1 on the NK cell lineage and other immune cells has not been characterized due to the lack of appropriate reagents. In this context, we have recently established several clones of monoclonal antibodies against ASGM1 with different specificity to other structurally related gangliosides. In this study, we characterized the rabbit anti-ASGM1 mAb clone GA134 with both higher specificity to ASGM1 and efficacy in depleting NK cells, and the in vivo GA134 treatment significantly impaired NK cell-dependent anti-tumor effector function. We further determined the expression of ASGM1 on the NK cell lineage at distinct differentiation stages using fluorescent-labeled GA134 and found that both CD122+ NK1.1- NKP and immature NK1.1+ CD11blo CD27lo NK subsets were the earliest NK cell lineages acquiring ASGM1 expression on their cell surface. In addition to NK cells, we characterized the expression of ASGM1 on a subpopulation of T cells, mostly NK1.1+ T cells, and basophils.

Production of a Monoclonal Antibody for Histone H2b Isoform H2b3b

H2b3b is one of the histone H2b isoforms that differs from canonical H2b by five to six amino acids. Previously, we identified H3t as the testis-specific histone H3 variant located in histone cluster 3, which is also the site of H2b3b. In this study, we produced monoclonal antibodies against H2b3b, using the iliac rat lymph node method for rat antibody and the immunochamber method for rabbit antibody. Immunoblot analysis confirmed that our antibodies could specifically discriminate between H2b3b and canonical H2b. Moreover, immunostaining revealed colocalization with a testicular stem cell marker, Plzf, but not with a meiotic marker, Sycp. This indicated that H2b3b is expressed in spermatogenic cells before meiosis. Our monoclonal antibodies enable further studies to reveal specific functions of H2b3b during spermatogenesis. We also hope that the established method will lead to the production of antibodies that can identify other H2b isoforms.