Monoclonal antibodies to inner ear antigens: I. Antigens expressed by supporting cells of the guinea pig cochlea.

Murine monoclonal antibodies against guinea pig cochlear epithelium were generated with the goal of identifying cochlea-specific antigens and elucidating their function. To compensate for the limited amount of cochlear tissue, intrasplenic immunization was used. Hybridoma supernatants were screened by ELISA for antibody production and for binding to homogenates from cochlea, liver, lung, kidney and brain. Hybrids producing antibody to cochlea were subcloned and tested immunocytochemically against frozen sections and surface preparations of paraformaldehyde-fixed cochlear tissue. KHRI-1, a low titer IgM antibody stained only Hensen cells. KHRI-2, also an IgM antibody, stained tectorial membrane, cells of the spiral limbus, cells bordering the space of Nuel, Hensen cells and the root cells of the spiral prominence. KHRI-3, an IgG1 antibody, stained the phalangeal processes of outer pillar cells and the apical portion of phalangeal processes of Deiters' cells in a distinctive wine goblet pattern on surface preparations. KHRI-3 antibody also reacted with peripheral nerves and pia mater of brain in unfixed frozen sections but the antigenic site was not stable to fixation in contrast to the epitope detected in the cochlea. In Western blots of detergent extracts from cochlea KHRI-3 stained a broad tissue-specific band of Mr 70-75 kDa; a narrower band of Mr 68-70 kDa was identified by KHRI-3 in extracts of tongue and brain. KHRI-1 and KHRI-2 did not detect any proteins in Western blots. The monoclonal antibodies KHRI-1, -2, and -3 which define epitopes expressed by discrete populations of supporting cells in the inner ear should be useful in characterizing the nature and function of cellular structures in the cochlea.