Monoclonal antibodies and lectins as probes for investigation of the cell biology of human trabecular meshwork: A preliminary report

Two classes of ligand-binding molecules, (1) monoclonal antibodies (MABs) and (2) lectins, were used as probes to investigate the cell biology of human trabecular cells. We raised MABs by using human trabecular meshwork as the immunogen. One MAB (KAa25D7) consistently recognized two polypeptides with molecular weights of approximately 42 and 49 kilodaltons. The former comigrated with actin and the latter was shown by fractionation and extraction studies to be a macromolecular complex. Four lectins (wheat germ agglutinin, concanavalin A, Phaseolus vulgaris leukoagglutinin I, and Ulex europaeus agglutinin I) were used to identify the glycosylated polypeptides in human trabecular meshwork on Western blots. Compared to normal age-matched controls, there was a significant decrease in binding of the lectins to most polypeptides of the trabecular meshwork samples that were obtained from 4 eyes of 2 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma. Our preliminary studies show that lectins applied to Western blots and MABs are useful methods to probe the cell biology of human trabecular meshwork in health and disease.