Monoclonal antithyroglobulin antibodies derived from immunizations of mice with human eye muscle and thyroid membranes.

A mouse hybridoma clone secreting an immunoglobulin M monoclonal antibody (K-5-4), which reacted with human thyroglobulin (Tg), was obtained from spleen cells of mice immunized with crude membranes of human eye muscle tissues (Em). Its binding to Tg could be inhibited by another monoclonal anti-Tg (F1-11-1) derived from spleen cells of mice immunized with human thyroid cell membranes, but K-5-4 did not inhibit the binding of F1-11-1 to Tg. This finding suggests that K-5-4 may react with a site on the Tg molecule which is susceptible to conformational changes, such as that induced by binding of another anti-Tg antibody at another site on Tg. K-5-4 reacted with human, mouse, rat, guinea pig, bovine, and porcine Tg. Binding and immunohistological staining experiments failed to detect binding of K-5-4 to Em tissue. The very low frequency of one Tg-reacting hybridoma from 6 X 10(8) spleen cells fused after Em immunization contrasts with the relative ease with which monoclonal anti-Tgs were generated from spleen cells of mice immunized with crude human thyroid membranes. In the latter case, 1 anti-Tg hybridoma was generated for every 100,000 spleen cells fused, and an extensive library of monoclonal anti-Tgs was collected. Some of these antibodies were specific for human Tg only, while others cross-reacted with Tg of other animal species. None had the species reativity pattern of K-5-4. The anti-Tgs were used to affinity purify human Tg directly from supernatant of thyroid homogenate; the purified Tg was, in turn, used to affinity purify human polyclonal but monospecific anti-Tg directly from serum of patients in a simple and rapid procedure. We conclude that the monoclonal anti-Tgs are useful reagents in isolating and purifying Tg and anti-Tg.