Worm Breeder's Gazette 7(1): 75
These abstracts should not be cited in bibliographies. Material contained herein should be treated as personal communication and should be cited as such only with the consent of the author.
To identify tissue- or cell-specific antigens in C. elegans, we are isolating hybridoma cell lines that produce antibodies to C. elegans. About 300 hybridoma cell lines were obtained by fusing P3U1 myeloma cells to spleen cells from BALB/c mice immunized with homogenates of fertilized C. elegans eggs or of whole larvae and adult animals. By indirect immunofluorescent staining of frozen sections of a mixed population covering hatchees to gravid adults, the cell lines were screened for secretion of antibodies to C. elegans tissues and checked for distribution of antigens in animals. We have so far examined some eighty monoclonal antibodies that react with eggs, larvae, and adults in a reproducible manner. The monoclonal antibodies thus tested are classified as follows: [See Figure 1] We are investigating the more detailed spacial distribution patterns of antigens as recognized by monoclonal antibodies and the time of their appearance in tissues and cells during embryonic and post- embryonic development.