Monoclonal antibodies against the major internal protein, p27, of a psoriasis-associated retrovirus-like particle.

Four murine monoclonal antibodies (MoAb) were raised against p27 isolated from psoriatic scale. The MoAb recognized the antigen on a subfraction (0.1-1%) of psoriatic lymphocytes as well as in skin biopsies from psoriatic patients. In contrast, the antigen could not be detected on lymphocytes or in skin biopsies from healthy controls. A sandwich ELISA assay using the MoAb for detection of p27 is described. This method, together with a competition antibody-binding assay for distinction of epitopes, demonstrates that the MoAb recognize four different antigenic determinants on p27.