Progesterone levels in milk and serum are indicators of pregnancy in cattle. The progesterone level reaches a peak on the 21st and 22nd days of pregnancy. Monoclonal antibodies specific to progesterone could be used for the immunodetection of milk and serum progesterone levels. | Tr. J. of Biology 23 (1999) 393–399 © TÜBİTAK Production of Monoclonal Antibodies specific for Progesterone Fatıma YÜCEL Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, TÜBİTAK Marmara Research Center, Gebze-Kocaeli-TURKEY Beyazıt ÇIRAKOĞLU Department of Medical Biology, Medical Faculty, Marmara University, Haydarpaşa, İstanbul-TURKEY Received: Abstract:Progesterone levels in milk and serum are indicators of pregnancy in cattle. The progesterone level reaches a peak on the 21st and 22nd days of pregnancy. Monoclonal antibodies specific to progesterone could be used for the immunodetection of milk and serum progesterone levels. We report here the development of hybrid cells prdoducing monoclonal antibodies specific for progesterone using hybridoma technology. Hybridoma cells secreting monoclonal antibodies against progesterone (MAM 2H11, MAM 6G6) were developed by fusion of the spleen cells of an immunized BALB/c mouse with FO (ATCC CRL 1646) mouse myeloma cells. These monoclonal antibodies were characterized for use in the development of diagnostic kits based on the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test system. ELISA tests showed that antibodies produced by 2 hybrids from 375 wells reacted specifically with progesterone. Monoclonal antibodies did not show any cross reaction with other steroid hormones. Key Words: Immunodiagnosis, monoclonal antibody, progesterone, ELISA Progesteron’a Özgü Monoklonal Antikorların Üretilmesi Özet: Progesteron hormonunun süt ve serumdaki miktarı gebeliğin bir göstergesidir. İneklerde gebeliğin 21. ve 22. günlerinde progesteron miktarı yüksektir. Progesterona karşı geliştirilmiş monoklonal antikorlar ile süt ve serumdaki progesteron düzeyi belirlenebilmektedir. Bu çalışmada hibridoma teknolojisi kullanılarak progesterona özgün monoklonal antikor üreten hibrit hücrelerinin elde edilmesi amaçlanmıştır. Progesterona karşı monoklonal antikorlar sentezleyen hibridoma klonları (MAM 2H11, MAM 6G6), FO (ATCC CRL .
