Esters labelling

ImmunO lSS iy. Chemiluminescence compounds (eg, acridinium esters and sulfonamides, isoluminol), luciferases (eg, firefly, marine bacterial, Benilla and Varela luciferase), photoproteins (eg, aequorin, Benilld), and components of bioluminescence reactions have been tested as replacements for radioactive labels in both competitive and sandwich-type immunoassays. Acridinium ester labels are used extensively in routine clinical immunoassay analysis designed to detect a wide range of hormones, cancer markers, specific antibodies, specific proteins, and therapeutic dmgs. An acridinium ester label produces a flash of light when it reacts with an alkaline solution of hydrogen peroxide. The detection limit for the label is 0.5 amol. 

Basic hydrolysis has been carried out on carboxylic esters labeled with O in the carbonyl group. If this reaction proceeded by the normal Sn2 mechanism, all the 0 would remain in the carbonyl group, even if, in an equilibrium process, some of the carboxylic acid formed went back to the starting material ... 

Using acridinium esters (Fig. 2) as chemiluminogenic labels, very sensitive immunoassays were developed [6], Also commercially, immunoassays using acridinium ester labels have proven to be successful. The sensitivity of detection... 

Acridinium esters have also been utilized for chemiluminescent detection of cDNA probes (Fig. 5) [9-11], The hydrolysis rate is much faster when the ester is conjugated to single-stranded DNA, rather than to double-stranded DNA. This means that the chemiluminescence from unhybridized acridinium ester-labeled probe is rapidly lost, whereas the chemiluminescence from the hybridized probe is minimally affected. This permits discrimination between hybridized and unhybridized acridinium ester-labeled DNA probes without separation steps. 

Therefore, chemiluminescent methods using an acridinium ester-labeled cDNA probe allow the discrimination of a mismatched DNA sequence in a homogeneous assay. 

CHEMILUMINESCENT DETECTION OF ACRIDINIUM ESTER-LABELED PROBE... 

Figure 10 Mismatch detection by using a chemiluminescent AE-labeled cDNA probe. Procedure [9, 11] Acridinium ester-labeled probes specific for either wild-type or mutant sequence corresponding to a target DNA are hybridized with the sample DNA for 1.0 h at 60°C in a hybridization buffer (pH 5.2). Hybridized and nonhybridized probes are discriminated by the hydrolysis reaction for 12 min at 62.5°C in the presence of Na2B407 (pH 8.5) and Triton X-100. The chemiluminescence of each sample is then measured in a luminometer.

Figure 2 illustrates the reaction mechanisms of acridinium ester label probes and alkaline phosphatase probes using dioxetane chemiluminescent detection. Table 2 summarizes approaches for labeling DNA. 

Acridinium ester—labeled chemiluminescent probes have been utilized to detect the specific protein-coding transcripts and to distinguish between transcripts that code for the 190-kDa protein and the two closely related 210-kDa proteins. The assay is called the hybridization protection assay (D3). In this assay, RNA isolated from the patient s white blood cells is first amplified by PCR. The amplified product is incubated with the chemiluminescent probe. The unhybridized probe is removed by selective hydrolysis in sodium tetraborate buffer, containing surfactant Triton X-100 at pH 8.5, in an incubation step at 60°C for 6 min. After the sample is cooled to room temperature, the chemiluminescence of the hybridized probe is measured in a luminometer. The procedure is reported to detect one leukemic cell in a population of a million or more normal cells. It is also rapid, requiring less than 30 min. Its reliability has been attested to by correlation with results obtained on karyotypic and Southern blot analysis (D3). 

A3. Arnold, L. J., Jr., Hammond, P. W., Wiese, W. A., and Nelson, N. C., Assay formats involving acridinium-ester-labeled DNA probes. Clin. Chem. (Winston-Salem, N.C.) 35, 1588-1594(1989). 

Figure 3.29.A shows a flow-cell of 20 iL inner volume used to hold immobilized anti-mouse IgG bound to a rigid beaded support (activated Pierce trisacryl GF-2000). The cell was used to develop a two-site immunoassay for mouse IgG by consecutive injection of the sample, acridinium ester-labelled antibody and alkaline hydrogen peroxide to initiate the chemiluminescence, which started the reaction sequence shown in Fig. 3.29.B. Regenerating the sensor entailed subsequent injection of an acid solution, which resulted in a determination time of ca. 12 min (this varied as a fimction of the flow-rate used, which also determined the detection limit achieved, viz. 50 amol for an overall analysis time of 18 min) [218]. The sensor was used for at least one week with an inter-assay RSD of 5.9%. Attempts at automating the hydrodynamic system for use in routine analyses are currently under way.

Figure 3.29 — (A) Immunosensor scheme A Cell inlet tubing B transparent PTFE tube (1.6-mm ID x 3-mm OD C immunosorbent D frit. (B) Outline of flow-injection immunoassay procedure. The assay buffer is posphate buffered saline (PBS) at pH 7, and flow-rates and times (min) are given in the figure. Immobilized anti-mouse IgG modified sample (mouse IgG) injected at T = 0 change of the flow-rate and buffer at T = 4 injection of hydrogen peroxide in a basic medium at T = 5 then, emission monitoring and regeneration step acridinium ester-labelled antibody (emitter = N-methylacridine). (Reproduced from [218] with permission of Elsevier Science Publishers).

Having worked this out, one further labelling experiment showed that a tetrahedral intermediate must be formed an ester labelled with 180 in its carbonyl oxygen atom passes some of its 180 label to the water. We discussed why this shows that a tetrahedral intermediate must be formed on p. 282,... 

Immunoassay kits using luminol and arylacridinium ester labels have been developed by nine companies for a variety of thyroid, steroid and pituitary hormones, viruses, digoxin, and creatine kinase. One assay for total and free thyroxin has detection limits of 20 pM in serum, while another for total and free triiodothyronine has a 3-pM detection limit in serum. These analytes are used as clinical indicators of thyroid gland malfunction. While research has shown that... 

Figure 9-17 Luminescent labels. A, Chemiluminescent acrid in turn ester label. (From Law S-j, Miller T, Piran U, et al. Novel polysubstkuted aryl acridlnium esters and their use In immunoassay, j Eioium Cftem/7um / 989 4 88-98. Reprinted by permission of John Wiley Sons, Ltd.). B, Electrochemiluminescent ruthenium (11) tris bipyridyi) NHS ester label.

Competitive binding chemiluminescence assay. The chemiluminescent competitve binding assay is similar to a RIA. The acridinium ester-labeled substance and the endogenous substance compete with the specific antibody that is available in limited concentration. The concentration is determined by the quantity of tracer that binds to the antibody. The use of solid-phase antibody simplifies separation of free from bound tracer. 

An acridinium ester-labeling method has been developed by Gen-Probe, Inc.. Because of high quantum yield and flash reaction kinetics in the presence of base and H2O2, chemiluminescent acridinium esters provide the possibility of designing sensitive nonradioactive probes. The detectability of these systems is 5 x 10 mol and acridinium-labeled probes are fully compatible with hybridization. Arnold et al. (1989) discriminated hybridized from unhybridized acridinium ester-labeled DNA probes without prior separation (Fig. 7.3). In a typical experiment (Table 7.7), the ss probe is hybridized to... 

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