Neutralizing Monoclonal Antibodies to Maitotoxin

Murine monoclonal antibodies which neutralize maitotoxin will be selected using a functionalassay that exploits the hemolytic action of maitotoxin. The resulting antibodies should be useful forseveral purposes. They will provide a means to measure the toxin content in crude extracts of fishtissues or dinoflagellate cultures by hemolysis neutralization assay. More importantly, neutralizingmonoclonal antibodies may provide a means to passively protect or reverse maitotoxin poisoning. Suchreagents could be humanized for clinical therapeutic applications. The antibodies may also be useful forother purposes including, studying the receptor pharmacology of maitotoxin and calcium ion channels;identifying and isolating maitotoxin-producing dinoflagellates; and, isolating purified maitotoxin byimmunoaffinity chromatography. Anti-idiotypic antibodies of those which neutralize maitotoxin shouldalso be of interest for a variety of analytical and biomedical applications.