Monoclonal antibodies reactive with dendritic cells of Mongolian gerbils

Mongolian gerbils (Meriones unguiculatus) serve as an valuable model animal for several infectious diseases of medical and veterinary importance. Reagents available for characterization of the immune response of Mongolian gerbils are strictly limited. We describe three novel murine monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) to dendritic cells of Mongolian gerbils. These include HUSM-M.g.11 of IgG2b isotype, HUSM-M.g. 20 of IgG2a isotype, and HUSM-M.g.30 of IgG1 isotype. All of these mAbs had an identical profile of immunohistochemical reactions with various tissues taken from immune-naive Mongolian gerbils, and were intensively expressed on dendritic cells, including epidermal Langerhans cells, B-cell follicles, and the thymic reticulum. Positive reactions of the epidermis and intestinal mucosa with these mAbs were induced by cutaneous or intestinal infections with parasites. Competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and immunoblot analysis (western blotting) indicated that all of these mAbs recognize an identical peptide epitope on a molecule with approximate molecular mass of 29 kDa. These data suggest that the mAbs recognize major histocompatibility complex class-II molecules of gerbils. Use of described mAbs would facilitate characterization of immune responses as well as investigations on host responses to infections of medical and veterinary importance, using the gerbil model.