Monoclonal antibodies to outer membrane antigens of Vibrio cholerae.

Hybridoma-derived monoclonal antibodies were prepared against outer membrane antigens of four strains of Vibrio cholerae that were cultivated under iron-limited conditions, and these antibodies were partially characterized. We established a library of 66 hybridomas which produced monoclonal antibodies defining 16 different V. cholerae antigens. Two antigens (molecular weights, 18,000 and 112,000) were heat modifiable, whereas the reacting epitope of a third antigen (40,000-dalton-18,000-dalton doublet) was completely destroyed when it was heated at 100 degrees C. The 112,000-dalton heat-modifiable protein was an iron-regulated outer membrane protein. This protein bound 59Fe in vitro when it was combined with the V. cholerae siderophore-iron complex 59Fe-vibriobactin; it was also found in in vivo grown V. cholerae, as were three other antigens. A total of 26 hybridomas produced antibody to V. cholerae lipopolysaccharide. Of these, 12 were cross-reactive with lipopolysaccharides of other gram-negative bacteria, including 2 which recognized lipid A. Several of these anti-lipopolysaccharide monoclonal antibodies appeared to be lipopolysaccharide region specific. Some membrane antigens were strain specific, whereas others were common to both O group 1 and non-O group 1 vibrios.