PMab-322: A Novel Anti-Hippopotamus Podoplanin Monoclonal Antibody for Multiple Applications

Podoplanin (PDPN) is a highly glycosylated type I transmembrane protein. PDPN expression is observed in various normal tissues, including lymphatic endothelial cells, kidney podocytes, and type I alveolar epithelial cells in the lungs. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) targeting PDPN across different animal species have facilitated the identification of PDPN-positive cells. To date, we have developed anti-PDPN mAbs for over 20 species. These antibodies suit various applications, including flow cytometry, immunoblotting, and immunohistochemistry. In this study, we generated an anti-hippopotamus PDPN (hipPDPN) mAb, PMab-322 (mouse IgG2a, kappa), using the Cell-Based Immunization and Screening (CBIS) method. PMab-322 exhibited strong reactivity to hipPDPN-overexpressed Chinese hamster ovary-K1 (CHO/hipPDPN) cells and demonstrated moderate affinity (KD: 4.4 × 10⁻⁸ M) in a flow cytometry-based measurement. PMab-322 specifically recognizes hipPDPN but does not cross-react with PDPN from 23 other species. Furthermore, PMab-322 successfully detected hipPDPN in both immunoblotting and immunohistochemistry. These findings highlight the potential of PMab-322 for pathological analyses of hippopotamus-derived tissues.