Specificity of monoclonal antibodies generated against arabinoxylans of cereal grains

Xylooligosaccharides substituted by arabinose have been produced by degradation of wheat flour arabinoxylans with an endoxylanase. These oligosaccharides were coupled to carrier proteins (KLH and BSA) and three monoclonal antibodies were isolated. The specificity of antibody recognition was studied using arabino-xylo-oligosaccharides exhibiting different pattern of substitution by arabinose. competition tests and molecular modelling suggest that the conformation adopted by beta-(1→4) linked xylose residues is an antigenic determinant recognized by the different antibodies. Arabinose was not specifically involved in the interaction of antibody and epitope.