Development of a novel monoclonal antibody that binds to most HLA-A allomorphs in a conformation-dependent yet peptide-promiscuous fashion.

Specificity analyses of peptide binding to human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A molecules have been hampered due to a lack of proper monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) for certain allomorphs, such as the prevalent HLA-A1 for Caucasians and HLA-A11 for Asians. We developed a mAb that recognizes a conformational epitope common to most HLA-A allomorphs. The mAb, named A-1, does not discriminate peptides by amino acid sequences, making it suitable for measuring peptide binding. A stabilization assay using TAP-deficient cell lines and A-1 was developed to investigate the specificity of peptide binding to HLA-A molecules. Regarding the evolution of HLA-A genes, the A-1 epitope has been conserved among most HLA-A allomorphs but was lost when the HLA-A gene diversified into the HLA-A*32, HLA-A*31, and HLA-A*33 lineages together with HLA-A*29 after bifurcating from the HLA-A*25 and HLA-A*26 branchs. The establishment of A-1 is expected to help researchers investigate the peptide repertoire and develop computational tools to identify cognate peptides. Since no HLA-A locus-specific mAb has been available, A-1 will also be useful for analyzing the locus-specific regulation of the HLA gene expression.

Characteristics and components of poly-aluminum chloride coagulants that enhance arsenate removal by coagulation: Detailed analysis of aluminum species.

We evaluated 51 poly-aluminum chloride (PACl) coagulants to determine the coagulant characteristics that were responsible for effective arsenate removal from contaminated river water by means of experiments involving coagulation, settling, and microfiltration. Some of the high-basicity PACls exhibited high arsenate removal percentages, particularly under alkaline conditions, and we investigated various relevant properties and characteristics of these high-basicity PACls. Effective arsenate removal was correlated with the content of polymeric and colloidal aluminum species (Alb and Alc) in the PACls but was not well correlated with colloid charge or zeta potential. Multiple regression analysis revealed that a portion of Alb and Alc, which reacted with the ferron reagent during the period from 30 min to 3 h, that is, the (Al30min-3h) fraction, had the highest arsenate sorption capacity, followed by a colloidal aluminum fraction (Al>3h, which reacted with ferron at a time of >3 h). The Al30min-3h fraction was stable, and its arsenate sorption capacity did not decrease markedly with increasing pH. The Al30min-3h fraction did not correspond to the Keggin-type e-Al13 polycation or the δ-Al30 polycation; it is likely to be an aluminum polymer that is unobservable by 27Al NMR spectroscopy. Our results suggest that PACls with a high proportion of the Al30min-3h fraction should be used for enhanced arsenate removal by coagulation. A high content of the e-Al13 polycation or the δ-Al30 polycation was not indispensable for effective arsenate removal.