Production of a monoclonal anti-myostatin antibody and the effects of in ovo administration of the antibody on posthatch broiler growth and muscle mass

Department of Human Nutrition, Food and Animal Sciences, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu 96822, USA. ykim@hawaii.edu

Myostatin, a member of the transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) superfamily, is a potent negative regulator of skeletal muscle growth. The objective of this study was to produce a monoclonal anti-myostatin antibody and to examine the effects of in ovo administration of the antibody on posthatch broiler growth and muscle mass. The mature form of myostatin was expressed in Escherichia coli and used as an immunogen in producing a monoclonal antibody against myostatin. One hybridoma clone (mAb-c134) that showed the strongest affinity to the immunogen in Western blot analysis was used in producing a large quantity of monoclonal anti-myostatin antibody. In Western blot analysis, this antibody showed a strong binding affinity to commercially available mature myostatin and demonstrated a certain level of cross-reactivity with recombinant human BMP2 but not with recombinant human TGF-beta3 or porcine TGF-beta1. Competitive ELISA demonstrated binding of the antibody to the native form of mature myostatin in solution. To examine the effects of in ovo administration of the mAb-c134 antibody, eggs were injected once with 40 microg of mAb-c134 in 50 mL of PBS either into the albumen or yolk on d 3 of incubation. Controls received no injection. After hatching, chicks were raised for 35 d. Broilers from eggs that had the antibody injected into the yolk had significantly heavier body (4.2%) and muscle (5.5%) mass than the controls in both male and female birds. In contrast, no significant effects on body and muscle mass were observed when the mAb-c134 antibody was injected into the albumen. The results of this study suggest that immunoneutralization of myostatin during embryonic development is a potential means to improve growth potential of broilers.

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