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U.S. Department of Energy
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Development of fluoroimmunoassay methods for delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:6476707

Heterogeneous, competitive, labelled-ligand solid-phase primary antibody fluoroimmunoassay methods for the detection of THC in blood and plasma were proposed, and the required assay components were produced and characterized. These components included polyclonal rabbit antisera and monoclonal antibodies reactive with tetrahydrocannabinols, solid-phase immunoglobin reagents, a fluoroligand, and protein conjugates of THC for immunization and immunoassay response amplification. The stereoselective rabbit anti-THC antiserum F-444-12 was found to have a high binding titer, a high affinity (K/sub D/ = 3.4 x 10/sup -/exclamation/sup 1/ M for 5'-iodo/sup -125/I-..delta../sup 2/-THC), and high specificity versus a large number of cannabinoid compounds. Immobilization of the immunoglobulin fraction of the antiserum on hydrophilic polyacrylamide microspheres resulted in only a four fold increase in K/sub D/, and a two fold increase in the concentration of binding sites required for the production of equivalent binding titers. Specificity for small ligands was not affected, but the binding of THC-protein conjugates was reduced in potency. Two monoclonal hybridoma cell lines were produced that secrete monoclonal antibodies which bind the radioligand. The fluoroligand was synthesized from 5'-carboxy-..delta../sup 2/-THC and FITC using a diamimoethane linkage structure. While the compound had the fluorescence properties of FTIC, it was bound to the antiserum F-144-12 with a cross-reactive potency 1.4x greater than the radioligand, and 10x greater than THC.

Research Organization:
North Carolina Univ., Chapel Hill (USA)
OSTI ID:
6476707
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English