Immunohistochemical diagnosis of systemic bovine zygomycosis by murine monoclonal antibodies.

Murine monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) against water-soluble somatic antigens (WSSA) and the wall fraction (WF) from Rhizopus arrhizus (Rhizopus oryzae) were produced in vitro by fusion of splenocytes from immunized BALB/c mice with mouse myeloma X63-Ag 8.653 cells. Supernatants reacting only with homologous antigens in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were subsequently screened for reactivity with homologous fungi in immunohistochemical techniques. All four Mabs raised against the WF of A. arrhizus failed to react on tissues. However, four of the Mabs raised against the WSSA of R. arrhizus (Mab-WSSA-RA-1 through Mab-WSSA-RA-4) revealed a high homologous reactivity on tissues and the cross-reactivity of these were subsequently evaluated on tissues containing other members of the family Mucoraceae and other unrelated fungi. On tissues and on immunoblots all four Mabs reacted identically and specifically with members of the family Mucoraceae, i.e., Absidia corymbifera, R. arrhizus, and Rhizomucor pusillus. The Mabs were all isotyped as IgM antibodies, were nonprecipitating, and reacted with homologous antigens with molecular masses from I4 to 110 kDa. With WSSA from A. corymbifera and R. pusillus the four Mabs were bound to antigens from 14 to 52 kDa and from 20 to 28 kDa, respectively. The diagnosis of 145 bovine lesions obtained by one of the specific Mabs (Mab-WSSA-RA-1) were compared to results obtained by heterologously absorbed polyclonal antibodies. In most lesions (n = 140 [approximately 97%]) the Mab and the polyclonal antibodies reacted in a similar pattern, i.e., positively for zygomycosis in 89 lesions, negatively in 41 aspergillosis lesions, and negatively in 10 undiagnosed lesions. Hyphae within two of four lesions in lymph nodes, which were not stained by the polyclonal antibodies, reacted with the specific Mab. However, in another three lesions of lymph nodes stained by the polyclonal antibodies no reactivity was seen with the Mab-WSSA-RA-1. The immunoreactivity of the Mabs (Mab-WSSA-RA-1 through Mab-WSSA-RA-4) raised against WSSA of R. arrhizus justify their application for the in situ diagnosis of systemic bovine zygomycosis.