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Celangulin V (CV) is the main insecticidal constituent of Celastrus angulatus . The V-ATPase H subunit of the midgut cells of lepidopteran larvae is the putative target protein of CV. Here, we compared the effects of CV on the midgut membrane potentials of Mythimna separata and Agrotis ipsilon larvae with those of the Cry1Ab toxin from Bacillus thuringiensis and with those of inactive CV-MIA, a synthetic derivative of CV. We investigated the changes in the apical membrane potentials ( V am ) and basolateral membrane potentials ( V bm ) of the midguts of sixth-instar larvae force-fed with the test toxins. We also measured the V am and V bm of larval midguts that were directly incubated with the test toxins. Similar to the effect of Cry1Ab, the V am of CV-treated midguts rapidly decayed over time in a dose-dependent manner. By contrast, CV-MIA did not influence V am . Meanwhile, the V am of A. ipsilon larval midguts directly incubated with CV decayed less than that of M. separata larval midguts, whereas that of larvae force-fed with CV did not significantly change. Similar to Cry1Ab, CV did not affect the V bm of isolated midguts. CV significantly inhibited V-ATPase activity in a dose-dependent manner. Therefore, CV initially inhibits V-ATPase in the apical membrane and affects intracellular pH, homeostasis, and nutrient transport mechanisms in lepidopteran midgut cells., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest. The founding sponsors had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, and in the decision to publish the results.

The increasing number of bioconjugates used for bioanalytical purposes and in pharmaceutical industries has led to an increasing demand for robust quality control of products derived from covalently linking small molecules to proteins. Here we report, for the first time, a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) time-of-flight (TOF)-based method to determine the quantity and location of the hapten zearalenone (ZEN) introduced to the carrier protein conalbumin (Con). This bioconjugate is of special interest because of its application in lateral flow immunoassays commercially available for fast testing of food and feed for the presence of ZEN, a common contaminant of all major cereal grains worldwide. Mass spectrometry (MS) analysis of the intact protein turned out to be highly reproducible allowing for the determination of the average hapten load of the carrier protein. In that way an easy and fast method to screen for changes in ZEN load after bioconjugate synthesis was established. For a more detailed hapten load characterization, measurements at the peptide level were of importance. Systematic studies, implementing post-source decay (PSD) and high- and low-energy collision-induced dissociation (CID), showed characteristic fragmentation pattern for three model peptides carrying between one and three lysines (the primary target for the ZEN modification) besides other, less obvious modification sites (serine, arginine and the N-terminus). By this, indicative reporter ions (m/z 203 and 316) and neutral losses (Δm/z 373 and 317) for the ZEN modification in general, plus immonium ions (m/z 87, 142 and 159) for the lysine modification in particular were identified. Based on these findings, proteolytic peptides, tentatively assigned to be modified, were unequivocally confirmed to be affected by bioconjugation. For a protein carrying on average only 2-3 modifications per molecule 29 Lys out of 59 potential modifications sites were actually modified. Considerations taking the protein structure into account showed that the affected Lys were predominantly located on the protein's surface., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

A novel bioassay for the detection and monitoring of Ochratoxin A (OTA), a natural carcinogenic mycotoxin produced by Aspergillus and Penicillium fungi, has been developed and applied for the screening of red wine. Here we report the immobilization and orientation of NOF4, a synthetic peptide, onto 3-D porous chitosan supports using a N-terminal histidine tag to allow binding to M(++) ions that were previously adsorbed onto the high surface area biopolymer. Three divalent cations (M(++)=Zn(++), Co(++), Ni(++)) were evaluated and were found to adsorb via a Langmuir model and to have binding capacities in the order Zn(++)>Co(++)>Ni(++). Following Zn(++) saturation and washing, C-terminus vs. the N-terminus His-tagged NOF4 was evaluated. At 1000 µg L(-1) OTA the N-terminus immobilization was more efficient (2.5 times) in the capture of OTA. HRP labeled OTA was added to the antigen solutions (standards or samples) and together competitively incubated on biospecific chitosan foam. The chemiluminescence substrate luminol was then added and after 5 min of enzymatic reaction, light emission signals (λmax=425 nm) were analyzed. Calibration curves of %B/B0 vs. OTA concentration in PBS showed that half-inhibition occurred at 1.17 µg L(-1), allowing a range of discrimination of 0.25 and 25 µg L(-1). In red wine, the minimum concentration of OTA that the system can detect was 0.5 µg L(-1) and could detect up to 5 µg L(-1). Assay validation was performed against immunoaffinity column (IAC) tandem reversed-phase high pressure liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC-FLD) and provided quite good agreement. The association of chitosan foam and specific peptide represents a new approach with potential for both purification-concentration and detection of small molecules. In the future this assay will be implemented in a solid-sate bioelectronic format., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In this study, the first mechanism-based monoclonal antibodies have been produced that recognize and differentiate diethoxy- and monoethoxyphosphorylated serine residues. Haptens were synthesized as the stable phosphonate form of phosphoserine esters to improve the immunoresponse. Following condensation with a glutaric anhydride to link the phosphoserine moieties to carrier protein, the hapten densities attached to bovine serum albumin and keyhole limpet henocyanin were determined by partial trypsin digestion and MALDI mass spectrometry, and confirmed using a fluorescent assay (FITC) to quantify unmodified lysine residues. The conjugation reactions were pH optimized to improve hapten density. Screening of subclones led to the identification of two monoclonal antibodies: (a) N257/25.11 that specifically recognizes (EtO)2P(O)-Ser as the phosphylated or inhibited form, and (b) N262/16 that recognizes (EtO)(HO)P(O)-Ser as the 'aged' form. Analysis of blood samples treated with paraoxon (EtO)2P(O)-OPhNO2 showed a concentration dependent recognition of the phosphylated form., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The conventional methods for characterization of steroid immunogens are based on the determination of the total amount of hapten bound to the protein carrier either by the UV spectroscopy or titration of unsubstituted amino groups. These methods do not allow more detailed insight into the immunogen composition. HPLC of the immunogen combined with UV detection is a relatively rapid and convenient method enabling determination of the hapten content in each fraction and, eventually, separation of individual fractions differing in the hapten content or purification of crude product.

An epitope expression cDNA library was constructed from the randomly fragmented cDNA coding for Phl p I, the major grass pollen allergen. Using IgE from allergic patients, epitope clones were isolated and immunodominant fragments were selected. Among three epitope clones coding for a similar region of Phl p I, one clone expressed a 15-amino-acid epitope which was target for IgE antibodies from approximately 30% of grass pollen allergic patients. According to the prevalence of grass pollen allergy, 22% of all allergic patients are expected to display IgE reactivity with this epitope. Although the purified recombinant epitope specifically bound IgE, it did not release histamine from basophiles of most grass pollen allergic patients and thus represents an IgE hapten. Immunodominant IgE haptens may be useful as therapeutic agents to saturate mast cell-bound IgE prior to allergen exposure and may represent candidates for a safe immunotherapy of allergic diseases by reducing anaphylactic side effects.

O-specific polysaccharide (L-hapten) was isolated earlier (Zh. mikrobiol. epidemiol. immunobiol., 1989, No. 11, pp. 8-11). In this paper L-hapten was shown to be unable, even at high concentrations (up to 2,000 micrograms/ml), to sensitize sheep red blood cells for passive hemagglutination by O-antibodies. At the same time classical LPS and heat-activated LPS were active at concentrations ot 32 and 8 micrograms/ml respectively. The O-antibody-neutralizing activity of L-hapten was lower than that of LPS 10(3)-10(4) times in the passive hemagglutination test and 25-50 times in competitive ELISA. The immunogenicity of isolated L-hapten was very weak: primary response in mice to the i.v. injection of 1-10 micrograms of L-hapten was similar to the effect produced by 10(-3)-10(-4) micrograms of LPS. No protective activity of L-hapten was noted in mice when the challenge dose of virulent shigellae was 16 LD50 or more, and only a weak protective effect was observed with a low challenge dose (8 LD50). The molecular basis of low serological and biological activity of L-hapten is discussed. The most probable explanation of the results obtained in this study is that L-hapten contains some nonspecific carbohydrates, inserted in or complexed with the O-side chain. Despite its low immunogenicity, L-hapten can be an important component of effective bacterial vaccines provided it is included into a suitable delivery system as is the case with Shigella ribosomal vaccine.

A novel and sensitive noncompetitive (two-site) enzyme immunoassay for haptens with amino groups is described. L-Thyroxine (T4) was used as a model hapten. T4 was indirectly biotinylated with glutathione as spacer between T4 and biotin molecules and trapped onto anti-(T4-bovine serum albumin) IgG-coated polystyrene balls. After washing the polystyrene balls to eliminate unreacted biotin and other biotinylated substances, biotinylated T4 was eluted from the polystyrene balls with HCl and was reacted with anti-(T4-bovine serum albumin) Fab'-horseradish peroxidase conjugate. The complex formed was trapped onto streptavidin-coated polystyrene balls. Peroxidase activity bound to the polystyrene balls was assayed by fluorimetry. The detection limit of T4 was 78 fg (0.1 fmol)/tube, which was 50-fold lower than the limit by competitive enzyme immunoassay using the same antibody and T4-peroxidase conjugate. This noncompetitive enzyme immunoassay was applied to the measurement of total T4 in serum. Serum levels of total T4 in 10 healthy subjects aged 25-40 yr were 94 +/- 13 (SD) micrograms/L (range, 78-114). The principle of this noncompetitive enzyme immunoassay may allow it to measure other haptens with amino groups more sensitively than can competitive immunoassays.

Along with classical lipopolysaccharide (LPS), O-specific material not precipitated by ultracentrifugation has been isolated from the water-phenol extract of S. sonnei avirulent strain 9090 possessing complete antigenic properties. The purification of O-antigen contained in the supernatant fluid has been carried out by the gel filtration of the fluid, previously treated with ribonuclease, in a column packed with Sephadex G-100. The polysaccharide nature of O-antigen thus obtained, the absence of lipid A and KDO and the low content of hexoses, or core-specific saccharides of S. sonnei LPS, in this antigen make it possible to classify this material with O-components of microbial cells, described by different authors as "native protoplasmic polysaccharide" or "L-hapten" and formed by polymers of LPS O-side chains. The content of this component in S. sonnei strains under study is, on the average, 2.5% of the weight of dry microbial substance. L-hapten preparations obtained in the course of our investigations have been found to contain two O-specific antigens detected by immunoelectrophoresis and immunodiffusion, as well as by sedimentation in saccharose gradient, where they form peaks corresponding to 4.3 S and 10.8 S. This polysaccharide O-antigen is supposed to be capable of interaction with ribosomal particles and suitable for use as a component of ribosomal dysentery vaccines.

Preliminary data on the use of a universal reagent, 125I-labelled second antibody, for the measurement of small molecules using immunosorbent techniques are described. The results showed that for two chemically unrelated haptens, norethisterone and diphenoxylic acid, the procedure could be optimised to measure these molecules at concentrations similar to those measurable using conventional liquid-phase or solid-phase techniques. No significant loss of norethisterone-antibody specificity could be demonstrated.

In studies aimed at elucidation of the idiotypic relationships among antibodies produced by a single rabbit, ten antibodies were isolated from the serum of a rabbit immunized with streptococcal Group C vaccine. Four of these antibodies were obtained in amounts sufficient to prepare homologous (rabbit) anti-idiotype antisera. The antisera were used to test for cross-reactivities among all ten antibodies by binding and inhibition of binding assays. Idiotypic cross-reactions among the antibodies were detected by three of the four antisera, while the fourth antiserum reacted only with the antibody that was used as the immunogen for its preparation. Two antibodies demonstrating the highest degree of cross-reactivity had readily distinguishable VH allotypic (a1) subspecificities. The idiotypic reactions and cross-reactions could be inhibited by haptens prepared from the Group C carbohydrate. Bleedings taken from the three immunization periods of this rabbit indicated that the four idiotypes were expressed in approximately equal amounts in each immunization period and that all idiotypes dropped to undetectable levels between immunization periods.

Costus oil, an iol isolated from a Composite, Saussurea lappa C., used in perfumery, is responsible of numerous cases of allergic contact dermatitis (ACD). The haptens incriminated are sesquiterpene lactones, costunolide and dehydrocostuslactone. These lactones can be removed from the oil by using a polymer, aminoethyl-polystyrene, to which they become bound: the passing solution is lactone-free. A group of guinea-pigs could be successfully sensitized (Freund Complete Adjuvant Test) to costus essential oil, while another group, injected in the same way with polymer-treated essential oil (i.e. lactones) could not be sensitized. This polymer therefore provides a means to render complex plant extracts non-allergic.

A low mol. wt allergen (Pj-2) and a hapten (Pj-H3) were purified from Parietaria judaica pollen by means of long-term aqueous extraction, dialysis and gel filtrations. The yield of the Pj-2 allergen was 0.94% (w/v) of the total protein present in the aqueous extract of the pollen, while its allergenic activity was about 60% of the total dialyzable activity, as verified by skin prick tests, ELISA- and RAST-inhibition experiments. The homogeneity of this allergen was demonstrated by one single sharp peak on HPLC, one single band on PAGE-SDS and by one single arc on IEF. Its mol. wt, estimated by HPLC and amino acid composition, was 10,400. The amino acid analysis showed 73 amino acid residues, and lysine was predominant, with 20 residues. The hapten Pj-H3 was 0.2% (w/v) of the total protein found in the pollen aqueous extract. It was inactive in skin prick tests even at a protein concn of 2 mg/ml, while it was capable of inhibiting by 60% in ELISA- and RAST-inhibition experiments, suggesting an immunochemical relationship with both IgE and allergens specific to P. judaica. The homogeneity was demonstrated by one single sharp peak on HPLC and one single band on PAGE-SDS. The amino acid analysis showed 10 amino acid residues, with no specific traits, and the mol. wt determined by gel filtration and amino acid composition was 1000. An immunochemical relation between the allergen and the hapten was also suggested by the results of an ELISA-inhibition test, and by the ability of the hapten to partially inhibit the precipitin line between rabbit antibodies to whole P. judaica pollen extract and the Pj-2 allergen. The allergen and the hapten described above, purified at homogeneity and in an antigenically active state, both provide adequate material for further structural and immunological characterizations.

Repeated exposure to the marine bryozoan, Alcyonidium gelatinosum, frequently provokes an eczematous allergic contact dermatitis known as the "Dogger Bank Itch". The dermatitis, representing a severe occupational disease, is especially widely distributed among trawlermen working in the Dogger Bank area in the North Sea. The allergy is shown to belong to the type of cell-mediated hypersensitivity. The hapten has been identified as the (2-hydroxyethyl)dimethylsulfoxonium ion. The isolation, structure determination and synthesis are discussed.

Purification of the Brucella polysaccharide referred to as native hapten (NH) and extracted from cells by the autoclaving procedure, was accomplished by ultrafiltration, followed by repetitive gel filtration using high-performance liquid chromatography on a "TSK-G2000-SW" column. The purified NH was analysed by SDS-PAGE, gas-liquid chromatography mass spectroscopy, and 13C and 1H NMR spectroscopy. NH from B. abortus B19 (NH-A) was shown to have a structure identical to that of A polysaccharide from B. abortus 1119-3, a linear homopolymer of alpha-1,2-linked-4,6-dideoxy-4-formamido-D-mannopyrannosyl residues. The structure of the NH from B. melitensis 16M (NH-M) was identified as a linear homopolysaccharide of the same sugar but composed of a pentasaccharide repeating unit in which four alpha 1,2-linked-4,6-dideoxy-4-formamido-D-mannopyrannosyl residues are linked alpha-1,3 to the last monosaccharide of the sequence. This structure is similar to that determined for the Brucella M polysaccharide from B. melitensis 16M. The discovery in highly purified NH preparations of covalently bound monosaccharides characteristic of lipopolysaccharide inner core regions e.g., quinovosamine, mannose and 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonate (KDO), indicates that this polysaccharide is derived from lipopolysaccharides (LPS) by hydrolytic conditions fortuitously generated during the extraction protocol. The antigenically important polysaccharides of Brucella are now established to be either A or M antigens. Polysaccharide B is a cyclic glucan with no structural or serological relationship to A or M polysaccharides, its apparent activity in diagnostic tests of infected cattle results from O polysaccharide contamination. This artefact, previously referred to as NH, results from LPS hydrolysis under the extraction conditions used to prepare polysaccharide B.

A haptenic substance was isolated from the dialysate of the aqueous extract of buckwheat. This substance, BWD II 22-3, which was composed of Asp(1), Thr(1), Ser(1), Gly(1), Gly(4), Ala(1), Val(1), Leu(1), Orn(2), Lys(1), Arg(1), Cys(1) and glucose was demonstrated to be homogeneous by gel filtration and paper electrophoretic analyses. The molecular weight was estimated to be 1600 by gel filtration on Sephadex G-50. The haptenic substance apparently has-SH group determinant caused about 50% inhibition at a concentration of 100 micrograms/disc in the RAST procedure using human serum sensitive to buckwheat. An active component, BWD II 22-3, might prove effective in the hyposensitization therapy of buckwheat-sensitive patients.

The O-haptens of the major fraction (f5A) of B. abortus (Strains 2308 and 19) membrane bound smooth lipopolysaccharide (sLPS) were prepared by hydrolysis of f5A native sLPS in 1% acetic acid at 100 degrees C for 2 h. After hydrolysis, O-haptens were separated from Lipid A-protein complex by centrifugation, and from small fragments by ultrafiltration of molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) 1.0 X 10(3). These carbohydrate haptens were identified by precipitin-inhibition assay and further fractionated by both membrane filtration and dialysis. The size distributions of carbohydrate haptens of endotoxins (f5A) ranged from oligosaccharides up to polysacchandes of 1.0 X 10(4) MWCO. Three major fractions of MWCO 8.0-10.0 X 10(3), 3.5-5.0 X 10(3) and less than 1.0 X 10(3) from both strains 2308 and 19 contained more than 85% of the total immunoactive materials. These fractions of haptens were subjected to composition, proton and 13C NMR analysis and were found to be a homopolymer of alpha 1----2 linked, 4,5-dideoxy-4-formamido-D-mannose (N-formylperosamine), which is identical to O-haptens of B. abortus strain 119.3 and Yersinia enterocolitica serotype 0:9 and similar to Vibrio cholerae 569B (INABA). Fractions of these haptens exhibited similar inhibitory reactivities in a precipitin-inhibition assay as expressed as mumoles of monosaccharide of anhydro-N-formyl perosamine. They were about 480 times as active as Me alpha----DMan or DMan.

Antiserum against GlcNAc beta 1----2Man alpha 1----3Man beta 1----4Glc beta 1----1Cer (MlOse4Cer), a mannolipid isolated from spermatozoa of the fresh-water bivalve Hyriopsis schlegelii, was elicited in rabbits by repeated injection of a mixture of hapten-bovine serum albumin with Freund's adjuvant. The specificity of the affinity-purified antibody obtained from the serum was based on two forms of enzyme-immunodetection of its binding to structurally related glycolipids, either adsorbed to microtiter plates or chromatographed on thin-layer plates. The purified antibody exhibited a significant cross-reactivity with GlcNAc beta 1----2Man alpha 1----3(Xyl beta 1----2)Man beta 1----4Glc beta 1----1Cer, (MIXOse5Cer) containing a core structure closely related to MlOse4Cer, but almost unrelated to other glycolipids. Distribution of MlOse4Cer and MlXOse5Cer in various bivalve and snail glycolipid extracts were screened in thin-layer immunobinding assays by using this purified specific antibody. The presence of the glycolipid antigens was limited to certain taxonomic orders of shellfish species.

Our homogeneous immunoprecipitation inhibition assay (Clin. Chem. 28:659-661, 1982) is applied here to tobramycin, phenobarbital, and theophylline. Only 10-50 microL of test sample is needed. No sample treatment, dilution, or extraction is required. A test serum sample is simultaneously mixed with a drug conjugate and its specific antiserum in a centrifugal analyzer. The subsequent reaction and the measurement are completed in 3 min. Within-run and between-run CVs for clinically relevant concentrations were well below 10%. Results for patients' samples correlated well with those by enzyme immunoassay.

An extract of human spermatozoa was prepared using Hyamine 2389 and Triton X-100. With gel and ion-exchange chromatography several fractions were obtained of which are reacted specifically with sperm-immobilizing antibodies of infertile females and males in an immune inhibition test. This fraction showed haptenic properties, ahd a molecular weight of 1600 and was excluded as an anticomplement factor. After conjugation with cytochrome c the hapten II2.2 formed precipitation reactions with 3 out of 4 sperm-immobilizing sera. The titer reduction in sperm-immobilizing sera after adsorption with II2.2 may represent an in vitro model for a possible treatment of infertility in cases of a humoral sensitization against spermatozoa. On the other hand, the hapten might easily be synthesized and could, after conjugation to an appropriate carrier, serve as a contraceptive vaccine.

For the first time O antigens obtained from phagolysates were proved to be suitable for use as material for the production of highly specific erythrocyte diagnostic preparations. O antigens obtained from Salmonella by two methods, i.e. phage disintegration and Grasset's method, were subjected to comparative chemical analysis and found to have no essential difference. Nevertheless, the sensitizing potency of O antigens obtained from phagolysates were experimentally shown to be 3 times greater than that of O antigens obtained by Grasset's method. The optimum sensitizing doses established in the passive hemagglutination test for O antigens obtained by both methods indicated that these antigens were highly sensitive and specific.

Two methods, using methylenelactone dimethylamino adducts, were used to remove selectively alpha-methylene gamma-butyrolactones from Laurus nobilis L. extracts. Isolated lactones were identified and "treated" extracts recovered. Two guinea-pig groups were sensitized to crude extracts and "treated" extracts, respectively, and tested with primary sensitizer and with different lactones. Only the first group showed strong skin reactions to crude extracts and to the lactones. Treated extracts were shown to be anallergic.

The allergen Dpt 4 from the house dust mite Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus was shown to be a lipoprotein as judged by its Sudan black B staining properties. Ultracentrifugal studies confirmed this finding and showed that Dpt 4 was polydisperse, although the majority of the allergen belonged to a very high density lipoprotein class. Physicochemical studies using gradient polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis showed that Dpt 4 had an apparent molecular weight of 244,000 daltons and a particle diameter of 10.73 nm. Agarose gel electrophoresis showed that the allergen had an electrophoretic mobility 0.86 times that of human alpha-lipoprotein. The observation that Dpt 4 is a lipoprotein is consistent with earlier studies which showed that the allergen was heterogeneous with regard to its molecular weight and that it contained the hapten phosphorylcholine.

The type-specific antigen of Mycobacterium avium serotype 2, the most ubiquitous of serotypes within the M. avium complex and a major cause of disseminated and localized infections, was isolated and purified. It is of the glycopeptidolipid (mycoside C) class with a characteristic oligosaccharide hapten. This was released as the oligosaccharide alditol by base-catalyzed reductive beta-elimination, and the structure was established by a combination of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, methylation analysis, fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry, and 13C and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance as 2,3-di-O-methyl-L-fucopyranosyl-(alpha 1----3)-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(alpha 1----2)- 6-deoxytalitol. A feature of the work was the elucidation of the absolute (enantiomeric) configuration of the sugars. This same structure, in much less detail, was previously reported as the species-specific hapten of strains of Mycobacterium paratuberculosis. Thus, the work raises the intriguing possibility that some M. avium serotypes are synonymous, at least in outer cell wall anatomy, with the agent(s) of paratuberculosis (Johne's disease), an insidious disease of vast proportions in ruminants. In addition, recognition of a specific determinant will allow a precise study of the epidemiology of M. avium infections in humans and animals.

Using autolysis different spermatozoa surface peptides were solubilized. The resulting low molecular weight compounds were further separated by gel-chromatography on Biogel P-4, thin-layer chromatography on Cel 400 and thin-layer-electrophoresis. After the conjugation of the compound with cytochrome C a conformation-independent determinant was detected with immuno-electrophoresis. Out of the 17 fractions tested only fraction 3, with a molecular weight of 1800 daltons revealed a precipitation reaction with human sperm-immobilizing sera and rabbit antihuman sperm-serum. All 17 fractions showed no precipitation reaction against human sperm-agglutinating sera.

The development and evaluation of a radioimmunoassay for N alpha-tri-glycyl-lysine8-vasopressin is described. The site of hapten conjugation of the immunogen has been controlled and the use of various radiolabelled tracers has been evaluated with special reference to the site of iodination. The most extensively studied antiserum showed specificity for the N-terminal triglycyl-extension as well as for several amino acid residues of the vasopressin ring. It crossreacted 27%, 28%, and 0.3% with Lys8-vasopressin, arg8-vasopressin and oxytocin respectively, and it was used to quantify triglycyl-lysine8-vasopressin in human plasma after SepPak C18 extraction. The sensitivity of the assay was 5 pg/tube with an intra-assay CV of 5-6% at 17 and 70 pg/tube. The identity of the immunoreactivity was studied by reversed phase chromatography.

An effective method was developed for the preparation of Brucella abortus native hapten by use of an ultrafiltration system. The membranes PM30 and YM5 were used to separate the lipopolysaccharide and the native hapten. The yield of the native hapten was higher than that obtained by a more complex procedure reported previously. This method is economical for the large-scale preparation of B. abortus native hapten. The effects of ultrafiltration were evaluated by a quick and sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic technique.

Antisera against rat erythrocytes contain agglutinins directed against unknown lipid determinants. Complement-fixation shows more reactivity with lipid extracts of rat spleen than of other rat tissues. The isolation of the reactive lipid from rat spleen, cytolipin S, is described. Cytolipin S is a glycosphingolipid containing glucose, galactose, and galactosamine with molar ratios of 1:2:1. It migrates on TLC like asialo GM1 (more slowly than cytolipin R, a ceramide tetrasaccharide, or cytolipin F, a ceramide pentasaccharide). Asialo GM1 and cytolipin S, when properly combined with auxiliary lipids, react very similarly with anti-rat erythrocyte sera by complement-fixation. However, cytolipin S is much more effective than asialo GM1 in inhibiting the hemagglutination reactions. It is concluded that cytolipin S and asialo GM1 are ceramide tetrasaccharides having different chemical structures and that the structural differences probably will be found in the carbohydrate linkages other than that between the terminal and penultimate residues.

Radioligands bound to murine monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies in solution are rapidly and effectively separated from free ligand by filtration through either untreated or polyethylenimine (PEI)-pretreated glass-fiber filters. Ligand binding to selected anti-morphine monoclonal antibodies, determined by filtration through untreated filters, was significantly greater (1.5-3.0-fold) than the binding activities obtained by gel filtration. However, radioactivity retained by filters that were pretreated with PEI (pH 4) was essentially the same as that obtained using the Sephadex G-25 short-column assay. The pH dependence of the retention on the coated fibers suggests that the mechanism of binding of antibodies to glass is different from that to the PEI-treated surfaces. The quantitative aspects of the assay are reported. The method should prove useful where quantitative, rapid and inexpensive binding radioassays need to be performed.

Components with hapten-like properties were isolated from the nondialyzable fraction, i.e. the retentate (R) and the dialyzable fractions of the aqueous extract of Kentucky Blue Grass pollen (KBC aq.ext.), by preparative isoelectrofocussing on Sephadex G-100 gel. These haptenic components could not elicit the passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA) reactions in rats passively sensitized with a murine reaginic antiserum to R, but could inhibit completely and specifically the PCA reaction which is normally elicitable with R. It was concluded that the specificity of the murine IgE antibodies was directed to a determinant(s) which was common to either allergenic or haptenic fractions. Moreover, by employing a pool of human sera from individuals allergic to KBG pollen in the radioallergosorbent test procedure, it was apparent that most of the haptenic fractions lacked some of the specificities present on allergenic components of R that were recognized by the human IgE antibodies. Evidence was obtained to suggest that the electrophoretic heterogeneity of allergenic components present in various fractions of KBG aq.ext. may be due primarily to differences in their net charge, rather than to differences in their allergenic specificity.

Recently the association of cellular immunity with pulmonary infiltrates in Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection has been suggested. Guinea pigs infected experimentally with M. pneumoniae developed a cellular hypersensitivity that could be demonstrated in vitro by the macrohage migration inhibition test. Peritoneal exudate cells obtained from guinea pigs sensitized with the organism were inhibited from migrating out of capillary tubes by the whole cell antigen. When the whole cells were extracted with aqueous acetone, the activity was found in the acetone insoluble (lipid-depleted) fraction, but not in lipid fraction. The activity was heat resistant, but diminished by treatment of 0.8 N HC1 at 100 degrees C for 30 min. The antigens responsible for the cellular immunity of M. pneumoniae were separated from the lipid, which had been considered the specific hapten associated with humoral immunity to this organism.

The O antigen polysaccharide of Salmonella montevideo was isolated from a core-defective mutant by the phenol/water procedure, and was suspected to contain phosphomonester and cyclic phosphodiester at its reducing end in anology to the O hapten from Salmonella typhimurium (Kent and Obsborn, 1968. Therefore, it was chromatographed on a DEAE-cellulose column. Whereas one part eluted with water the other part of the polysaccharide could only be eluted with buffer. Both fractions were further purified on Sephadex G100 and contained mannose, glucose, N-acetylglucosamine and phosphate in a molar ratio of 4:1:1: less than 0.1. In order to specifically label the reducing end phosphate was removed enzymatically, or the presumed cyclic diester was cleaved by mild hydrolysis, and the fractions were reduced with sodium horo[3H]hydride. Both fractions yield mainly [3H]glycerol after hydrolysis and paper chromatogaphy. In addition, [3H]mannitol and [H]monohydroxyacetone could be identified by paper chromatography and were concluded to be the result of phosphate migration and beta-elimination reactions taking place during the isolation procedure and the various treatments prior to sodium boro[3H]hydride reduction. These findings in addition to periodate oxidation studies indicated that the O antigen polysaccharide of Salmonella montevideo had glyceraldehyde phosphate at its reducing end. From the incorporation of 3H into the polysaccharide the O antigen was calculated to consist of about 19 repeating units of 6 sugar residues each.