Preparation of species-specific murine monoclonal antibodies against the yeast phase of Paracoccidioides brasiliensis.

A panel of four murine monoclonal antibodies showing species specificity for the yeast phase of the pathogenic dimorphic fungus Paracoccidioides brasiliensis was produced by using a modification of the standard monoclonal antibody technology. This involved the use of the immunosuppressive drug cyclophosphamide to suppress the immune response of test animals to fungi showing cross-reactivity, i.e., to Histoplasma capsulatum. One monoclonal antibody, P4, which had a high titer by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, was shown to recognize a linear antigenic epitope of P. brasiliensis at a molecular size of 70,000 to 75,000 daltons by Western blot (immunoblot) analysis. The potential use of these monoclonal antibodies, which are the first species-specific probes to P. brasiliensis that have been produced, in the field of serodiagnosis is discussed.