Characterization of antigen-enzyme conjugates: Theoretical considerations for rate nephelometric assays of immunological reactivities
✍ Scribed by Gurusingham Sittampalam; George S. Wilson; James M. Byers III
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1982
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 563 KB
- Volume
- 122
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0003-2697
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✦ Synopsis
A simple method has been developed to assay the immunological reactivity of antigenenzyme conjugates by rate nephelometry. Unlike immunodiffusion or immunoelectrophoresis, the procedure is independent of molecular hydrodynamics and is based on precipitin rate curves obtained by light-scattering measurements. To our knowledge, no such methods have yet been described in the literature to characterize these conjugates. Theoretical considerations indicate that the scattering properties of the precipitin particles obey Raleigh-Debye conditions. Thus, the rate of increase in light scatter measured is directly proportional to an increasing number of scattering centers on large, growing precipitin particles. This independence of the rate of change in light scatter from the absolute size of the particles makes rate nephelometry an ideal technique to quantitate immunological reactivity. This paper deals with a special case of the fundamental rate law that relates the rate of change of light scatter to the antibody-antigen reaction under Rayleigh-Debye conditions. In addition, data for two types of conjugates which illustrate the validity of the technique are presented.