Monoclonal antibody for human telomerase catalytic subunit

Abstract

The present invention provides a monoclonal antibody which can specifically and efficiently recognize hTERT protein; which is the catalytic subunit of telomerase, and provides a human chimeric antibody, a CDR grafted antibody, a single chain antibody, and a disulfide stabilized antibody each containing the monoclonal antibody. In addition, the present invention provides a method for detecting/quantitating hTERT protein using these antibodies, and provides diagnosis method, diagnosis agent, and therapeutic agent, for diseases, such as cancer, in which telomerase is involved using these antibodies.

1 - 15 . (canceled).  
     
     
         16 . A single chain antibody comprising an H chain V region and an L chain V region of a monoclonal antibody that is obtainable by immunizing an animal with a partial peptide of the human telomerase catalytic subunit, the partial peptide having an amino acid sequence designated as one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, and 6.  
     
     
         17 . A single chain antibody according to  claim 16 , wherein amino acid sequences of an H chain V region and an L chain V region of said single chain antibody have the same amino acid sequences as amino acid sequence of an H chain V region and an L chain V region of a monoclonal antibody which recognizes the human telomerase catalytic subunit.  
     
     
         18 . A single chain antibody according to  claim 17 , wherein amino acid sequences of an H chain V region and an L chain V region of said single chain antibody have the same amino acid sequences as amino acid sequence of an H chain V region and an L chain V region of a monoclonal antibody which is selected from the group consisting of monoclonal antibodies KM 2311, KM2582, KM2590, KM2591, and KM2604.  
     
     
         19 . A single chain antibody according to  claim 16 , wherein amino acid sequences of an H chain V-region and an L chain V region of said single chain antibody have the same amino acid sequences as amino acid sequences of complementary determining regions of an H chain V region and an L chain V region of a monoclonal antibody which recognizes the human telomerase catalytic subunit.  
     
     
         20 . A single chain antibody according to  claim 19 , wherein amino acid sequences of an H chain V region and an L chain V region of said single chain antibody have the same amino acid sequence as amino acid sequences of complementary determining regions of an H chain V region and an L chain V region of a monoclonal antibody which is selected from the group consisting of monoclonal antibodies KM 2311, KM2582, KM2590, KM2591, and KM2604.  
     
     
         21 - 26 . (canceled).  
     
     
         27 . A method for immunologically detecting a human telomerase catalytic subunit using a monoclonal antibody that is obtainable by immunizing an animal with a partial peptide of the human telomerase catalytic subunit, the partial peptide having an amino acid sequence designated as one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, and 6.  
     
     
         28 . An immunological detecting method according to  claim 27 , wherein the method is Western blotting, immunohisto staining method, immunocyte staining method, or dot blotting.  
     
     
         29 . A method for immunologically detecting a microorganism, an animal cell, or an insect cell which expresses a human telomerase catalytic subunit intracellularly or extracellularly, using a monoclonal antibody that is obtainable by immunizing an animal with a partial peptide of the human telomerase catalytic subunit, the partial peptide having an amino acid sequence designated as one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, and 6.  
     
     
         30 . An immunological detecting method according to  claim 29 , wherein the method is Western blotting, immunohisto staining method, immunocyte staining method, or dot blotting.  
     
     
         31 . A method for immunologically quantitating a human telomerase catalytic subunit using a monoclonal antibody that is obtainable by immunizing an animal with a partial peptide of the human telomerase catalytic subunit, the partial peptide having an amino acid sequence designated as one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, and 6.  
     
     
         32 . An immunological quantitating method according to  claim 31 , wherein the method is fluorescent antibody method, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method (ELISA), radioimmunoassay (RIA), or sandwich ELISA method.  
     
     
         33 . A method for immunologically quantitating a microorganism, an animal cell, or an insect cell which expresses a human telomerase catalytic subunit intracellularly or extracellularly, using a monoclonal antibody that is obtainable by immunizing an animal with a partial peptide of the human telomerase catalytic subunit, the partial peptide having an amino acid sequence designated as one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, and 6.  
     
     
         34 . An immunological quantitating method according to  claim 33 , wherein the method is fluorescent antibody method, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method (ELISA), radioimmunoassay (RIA), or sandwich ELISA method.  
     
     
         35 . A diagnosis method for diseases wherein telomerase is involved using a monoclonal antibody that is obtainable by immunizing an animal with a partial peptide of the human telomerase catalytic subunit, the partial peptide having an amino acid sequence designated as one of SEQ ID NOs: 1, 2, 3, and 6.  
     
     
         36 - 37 . (canceled)