Antibodies for identifying and/or isolating at least one cell population

A method for isolating and/or identifying at least one cell population, which is selected from the group consisting of haematopoietic stem cells, neuronal stem cells, neuronal progenitor cells, mesenchymal stem cells and mesenchymal progenitor cells, comprising the step of contacting said cell population with a monoclonal antibody, wherein the antibody binds to an epitope of CUB domain-containing protein 1 (CDCP1) which is the same as that bound by an antibody which is produced by the hybridoma cell lines CUB1, CUB2, CUB3 or CUB4, which were deposited in the Deutsche Sammlung fur Mikroorganismen and Zellkulturen (DSMZ), in accordance with the Budapest treaty, under the numbers DSM ACC2569, DSM ACC2566 and DSM ACC2565, on 14 Aug. 2002, and DSM ACC2551, on 12 Jul. 2002 or a fragment selected from the group consisting of:

• a fragment of a monoclonal antibody produced by the hybridoma cell line CUB2, which is deposited in the DSMZ under the number DSM ACC2566,
• a fragment of a monoclonal antibody produced by the hybridoma cell line CUB3, which is deposited in the DSMZ under the number DSM ACC2565, and
• a fragment of a monoclonal antibody produced by the hybridoma cell line CUB4, which is deposited in the DSMZ under the number DSM ACC2551,
• wherein said fragment is selected from the group consisting of Fab, F(ab′)2′, Fv and a fragment comprising complementarity determining regions (CDRs), and wherein said fragment retains antigen-binding specificity of said antibody, wherein said method results in isolating and/or identifying at least one of said cell population.

A method for analyzing a tissue biopsy sample, a bone marrow biopsy sample and/or a blood sample, comprising the steps of:

• contacting said sample with a monoclonal antibody, wherein the antibody binds to an epitope of CUB domain-containing protein 1 (CDCP1) which is the same as that bound by an antibody which is produced by the hybridoma cell lines CUB1, CUB2, CUB3 or CUB4, which were deposited in the Deutsche Sammlung fur Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen (DSMZ), in accordance with the Budapest treaty, under the numbers DSM ACC2569, DSM ACC2566 and DSM ACC2565, on 14 Aug. 2002, and DSM ACC2551, on 12 Jul. 2002;
• detecting binding of said cells to said antibody;
• and
• correlating binding of said cells to said antibody with the presence of CDCP1 antigen on said cells.

A method for preparing a monoclonal antibody, wherein the antibody binds to an epitope of CUB domain-containing protein 1 (CDCP1) which is the same as that bound by an antibody which is produced by the hybridoma cell lines CUB 1, CUB2, CUB3 or CUB4, which were deposited in the Deutsche Sammlung fur Mikroorganismen and Zellkulturen (DSMZ), in accordance with the Budapest treaty, under the numbers DSM ACC2569, DSM ACC2566 and DSM ACC2565, on 14 Aug. 2002, and DSM ACC2551, on 12 Jul. 2002, or a fragment selected from the group consisting of:

• a fragment of a monoclonal antibody produced by the hybridoma cell line CUB2, which is deposited in the DSMZ under the number DSM ACC2566,
• a fragment of a monoclonal antibody produced by the hybridoma cell line CUB3, which is deposited in the DSMZ under the number DSM ACC2565, and
• a fragment of a monoclonal antibody produced by the hybridoma cell line CUB4, which is deposited in the DSMZ under the number DSM ACC2551, wherein said fragment is selected from the group consisting of Fab, F(ab′)2′, Fv and a fragment comprising complementarity determining regions (CDRs), and wherein said fragment retains antigen-binding specificity of said antibody comprising:
• immunizing an animal with an antigen selected from the group consisting of the protein CDCP-1 and the nucleic acid which encodes the CDCP-1 antigen protein;
• and
• isolating an antibody that binds to the same epitope of CUB domain-containing protein 1 (CDCP 1) as that bound by an antibody which is produced by the hybridoma cell lines CUB1, CUB2, CUB3 or CUB4.