Enzymes SPDP activation

Prepare SPDP-activated alkaline phosphatase in 50 mM sodium phosphate, 0.15M NaCl, lOmM EDTA, pH 7.2. Add to the oligo solution, an amount of the activated enzyme representing a 10-fold molar excess over the calculated amount of DNA present. 

The two-step nature of SPDP crosslinking provides control over the conjugation process. Complexes of defined composition can be constructed by adjusting the ratio of enzyme to secondary molecule in the reaction as well as the amount of SPDP used in the initial activation. The use of SPDP in conjugation applications is extensively cited in the literature, perhaps making it one of the more popular crosslinkers available. It is commonly used to form immunoto-xins, antibody-enzyme conjugates, and enzyme-labeled DNA probes. A standard activation and coupling procedure can be found in Chapter 5, Section 1.1. 

Reduction of the pyridyl disulfide end after SPDP modification releases the pyridine-2-thione leaving group and generates a terminal—SH group. This procedure allows sulfhydryl-reactive derivatives such as maleimide-activated enzymes (Chapter 26, Section 2.3) to be conjugated with DNA probes for use in hybridization assays (Malcolm and Nicolas, 1984). 

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