Investigating monoclonal antibodies to bovine "null" cell antigens using two-colour immunofluorescence

Eighteen monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) putatively to non T4/T8 (null) cell antigens were tested by two-colour immunofluorescence and antibody binding inhibition (blocking), with one selected mAb (CC15) that previous studies had indicated to be specific for null cells. None of the other mAbs blocked binding of CC15 to lymphocytes. Three main patterns of reaction were observed in two-colour immunofluorescence studies: mAbs that stained the same cells as CC15, mAbs that only stained a sub-population of the cells that stained with CC15 and mAbs that stained a sub-population of the cells that stained with CC15 but also some cells that did not react with CC15.