[Preparation, identification and preliminary application of anti-desmoplakin I monoclonal antibody]

Desmosomes were isolated first from fresh cow nose epidermis. Desmoplakin I (DP I) was purified from desmosome preparations by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and anti-DP I McAb was obtained via hybridoma technique. The tissue specificity showed that all the normal epithelia, different kinds of epithelial tumors and meningioma were positive, whereas non-epithelial tissues and their corresponding tumors gave a negative result. Positive staining showed a series of punctate reaction locating along the cell-cell borders, each spot representing a desmosome or a cluster of closely spaced desmosomes. It is suggested that McAb of DP I is a reliable immunohistochemical probe for epithelial tumor and meningioma diagnosis.