Generation of anti-proteinase 3 monoclonal antibodies and development of immunological methods to detect endogenous proteinase 3.

Proteinase 3 (PR3), a neutrophil granule serine protease, is the major autoantigen for autoantibodies in the systemic vasculitic disease, Wegener's granulomatosis. It is also found to be involved in various inflammatory diseases including Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, cystic fibrosis, and gingivitis. However, there is no high quality antibody available to detect endogenous PR3 in biological samples such as plasma and tissue.