Production and Characterization of a Monoclonal Antibody Against Enrofloxacin

Enrofloxacin is a fluoroquinolone antibiotic approved for the treatment of infections in animals. Because of the side effects to consumers of animal products, the maximum residue limits (MRLs) of enrofloxacin in animal tissues for consumption are regulated. In this study, a monoclonal antibody (mAb) against enrofloxacin was prepared and characterized for the development of a direct competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The obtained mAb, Enro44, was highly specific for enrofloxacin and had a 50% inhibition concentration ($IC_{50}$) of 1.99 ng/ml in a competitive ELISA, and the limit of detection (LOD) was 0.50 ng/ml. The cross-reactivity of the mAb with other quinolones and fluoroquinolones was lower than 0.01%. The subclass of the mAb Enro44 was identified as IgG1. The antigen (Ag)-captured direct competitive ELISA using the mAb Enro44 was tested on different spiked samples, including chicken muscle, cattle milk, and cattle urine, and the assay demonstrated recoveries of 82-112%, 80-125%, and 78-124%, respectively. Furthermore, the quantitation of enrofloxacin obtained from the ELISA and from high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was in good agreement, with the linear regression coefficient between 0.933 and 1.056. The cDNAs encoding a heavy-chain Fd fragment (VH and CH1) and a light chain of the mAb Enro44 were cloned and sequenced. Taken together, the results obtained reveal a potential use of this mAb in an ELISA for the detection of enrofloxacin in food samples. The information of amino acid sequence of this mAb will be useful for further modification and production of the mAb in a bioreactor.