Monoclonal antibodies to human fibrin: interaction with other animal fibrins.

Four monoclonal antibodies have previously been raised in our laboratory for possible use in thrombus imaging and the targeting of thrombolytic agents. These antibodies were raised to various human fibrin-related immunogens and each antibody had been selected for its specificity towards fibrin and not fibrinogen. To study further these antibodies in animal circulation models both in vivo and in vitro, their selectivity towards human fibrin as opposed to other animal fibrins was examined. In this study dissociation constants for each antibody with each of six species fibrins (human, baboon, pig, dog, sheep and rabbit) were estimated using both fibrin clots and monolayers. Some limited data were also obtained with Sepharose-fibrin. Of the antibodies two (denoted 12B3B10 and 12B3A11) are seen to bind almost exclusively to human fibrin with dissociation constants of about 8 x 10(-10) M using fibrin clots and monolayers. These same two mabs bound to baboon fibrin with a dissociation constant of 2 x 10(-9) M, while neither displayed significant levels of binding to the fibrins from dog, pig, sheep and rabbit. The other two antibodies investigated (1H10 and 5F3) were found to bind well to fibrins of human, baboon, pig and dog, with dissociation constants in the range of 1.4-4.2 x 10(-9) M. However neither 1H10 nor 5F3 displayed significant recognition of sheep and rabbit fibrins. Both 1H10 and 5F3 were also found by means of competitive ELISA's to retain their selectivity to baboon, dog and pig fibrins in the presence of their respective fibrinogens.