MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES TO GLYCOPROTEIN P

摘要

The invention provides a monoclonal antibody that recognises a structurally continuous and extracellularly-located epitope of human glycoprotein P (Pgp) which consists of a specific continuous epitope-forming amino acid sequence which is preferably located on the fourth extracellular loop of human Pgp and especially contained within the peptide of SEQUENCE ID NO. 1. Preferred antibodies according to the invention bind human Pgp specifically and with high avidity and thus may be used to identify human MDR cells when present as only a very low proportion of a cell population or when expressing human Pgp at only very low levels. The monoclonal antibody may be a whole antibody or antigen binding fragment thereof and may be prepared by hybridoma or recombinant DNA techniques. The monoclonal antibody is useful for the identification or purification of cells which express human Pgp, e.g. when contained in heterogeneous cell populations, and for monitoring the multi-drug resistant status of cells, e.g. tumour cells.