Reagents and methods for detecting a polymorphic protein

A method of determining a haptoglobin (Hp) phenotype of a subject, comprising:

• contacting a biological sample of said subject with an isolated anti-haptoglobin monoclonal antibody,
• wherein the isolated anti-haptoglobin monoclonal antibody, comprises at least one light chain variable region and at least one heavy chain variable region, said light chain variable region comprising:
• the complementarity determining region light chain (CDRL) 1 consisting of SEQ ID NO:3;
• a CDRL2 consisting of SEQ ID NO:4;
• and a CDRL3 consisting of SEQ ID NO:5, and said heavy chain variable region comprising:
• a complementarity determining region heavy chain (CDRH) 1 consisting of SEQ ID NO:8;
• a CDRH2 consisting of SEQ ID NO:9;
• and a CDRH3 consisting of SEQ ID NO:10;
• forming a bound complex between the isolated anti-haptoglobin monoclonal antibody and haptoglobin in the biological sample;
• quantitatively determining a binding affinity between said haptoglobin and said isolated anti-haptoglobin monoclonal antibody;
• and
• comparing said quantitatively determined binding affinity with a value obtained from quantitatively determining the binding affinity of said isolated anti-haptoglobin monoclonal antibody to an isolated Hp 1-1, Hp 2-1, or Hp 2-2 isoform, wherein the binding affinity determined is indicative of the Hp allele type, thereby determining the phenotype of Hp in said subject.