Hapten mimic elicits antibodies recognizing prostaglandin E2.

Antibodies that recognized the prostaglandin (PG) E structure were elicited from rabbits. 9-Deoxy-9-methylene-PGF2alpha, a stable isosteric mimic of PGE2, was conjugated to two different protein immunogens and the immune response system was duped into producing antibodies with poor recognition for prostaglandins other than the hapten mimic (9-deoxy-9-methylene-PGF2alpha) and its isosteric counterparts (PGE1 and PGE2). With this procedure, crossreaction that would ordinarily arise from the chemical or metabolic instability of an authentic PGE2 immunogen was avoided. Antibodies raised against a keyhole limpet hemocyanin conjugate of 9-deoxy-9-methylene-PGF2alpha had an average intrinsic association constant, Ko = 2.6 X 10(9) liters.mole-1, for PGE2. Crossreaction was low for a number of related prostaglandins, and a sensitive radioimmunoassay procedure with a detection limit of 6 pg was developed.