Design of acridinium-9-carboxamides and anti-acridinium antibodies for chemiluminescent signal enhancement.

A novel system of signal enhancement is presented in which every labeled antibody is capable of generating a signal. Three chemiluminescent acridinium-9-carboxamide haptens (1, 2, and 3) which incorporated differences in charge and location of the linker were designed and synthesized. Anti-acridinium polyclonal antibodies for each hapten were screened using surface plasmon resonance instrumentation to determine specificity for each hapten. Anti-acridinium 2 antibodies were found to be non-cross-reactive to acridinium 1. This property was exploited to design secondary antibody conjugates which would bind to primary antibodies labeled with 2 yet could still be labeled with the structurally similar acridinium 1. Consequently, both layers contributed to the overall chemiluminescent signal. This format is an advance over other signal amplification formats which employ non-signal-generating, labeled antibodies to construct multilayered systems.

Evidence of nucleophilic addition to chemiluminescent N-sulfonylacridinium-9-carboxamides from electrospray ionization mass spectrometry.

Addition of nucleophiles to the chemiluminescent acridinium-9-carboxamide 1 resulted in the formation of the acridan adduct 7. The relative ratio of 1/7 present in solution could be determined by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) for a number of nucleophiles that are commonly employed during the use of 1 as a label in medical diagnostic assays.

Linker-mediated modulation of the chemiluminescent signal from N(10)-(3-Sulfopropyl)-N-sulfonylacridinium-9-carboxamide tracers.

Four chemiluminescent N-sulfonylacridinium-9-carboxamide active esters (17-20) were prepared from the corresponding acids and coupled to both of the aminated phenobarbital (13) and N-(6-aminohexyl)phenytoin (16) haptens. The level of signal produced by chemiluminescent N-sulfonylacridinium-9-carboxamide phenobarbital and phenytoin tracers in a solid-phase immunoassay format was found to be modulated by at least 20-fold by the judicious choice of the reactive acridinium-hapten linking group.

O-(Acridinium)hydroxylamine (AHA): a reagent for the preparation of chemiluminescent acridinium oxime (AO)-steroid conjugates.

O-(Acridinium)hydroxylamine (AHA) reacted with a representative sample of oxo-steroids (6-oxoestradiol, estrone, norethindrone, cortisol, progesterone, digoxin dialdehyde, and digitoxin dialdehyde) to produce chemiluminescent acridinium oxime (AO) conjugates in a single step in 37-68% yield after preparative HPLC.

Evaluation of chemiluminescent estradiol conjugates by using a surface plasmon resonance detector.

A series of chemiluminescent 17beta-estradiol probes were synthesized. Relative equilibrium dissociation constants (K(D)) for the interaction of an anti-E(2) Fab fragment for the probes in solution were evaluated using a single E(2)-analog biosensor surface on a BIAcore surface plasmon resonance instrument. The results show the antibody fragment binds all chemiluminescent conjugates tested with high affinity showing only minor preferences for site of substitution (C6 versus C7), stereochemistry (alpha versus beta), or linker moiety.

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) as a tool for antibody conjugate analysis.

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) analysis was used to assess the immunoreactivity of anti-biotin (4) and anti-fluorescein (5) monoclonal antibody after conjugation with the N-hydroxysuccinimide ester of acridinium-9-carboxamide 1. Only minor changes in the apparent equilibrium dissociation constants of the antibody conjugates for their ligands resulted from the conjugation process. However, comparison of the initial binding rate of the conjugates with their ligands with those of the unmodified antibodies over a range of concentrations showed that the antibody conjugates were partially inactivated. The anti-fluorescein conjugates retained at least 90% of their immunoreactivity over the range of modification tested, while anti-biotin conjugates showed a progressive loss of reactivity with increased substitution by the label.

O-(fluoresceinylmethyl)hydroxylamine (OFMHA): a reagent for the preparation of fluorescent O-(fluoresceinylmethyl)oxime (FMO)-steroid conjugates.

The 5 and 6-isomers of O-(fluoresceinylmethyl)hydroxylamine reacted with a representative sample of oxo-steroids (6-oxoestradiol, estrone, norethindrone, cortisol, progesterone, and digitoxin-dialdehyde) to produce O-(fluoresceinylmethyl)oxime conjugates in a single step in 24-84% yield after preparative high performance liquid chromotography.

Resin-supported labeling reagents.

Resin-supported fluorescein, coumarin, acridinium, and biotin active esters were prepared from a new N-hydroxysuccinimidyl resin in high yield. The active esters were used to prepare representative conjugates with estriol, thyroxine, phenytoin, and desipramine haptens without need for purification beyond removal of the spent resin.

Synthesis of a chemiluminescent acridinium hydroxylamine (AHA) for the direct detection of abasic sites in DNA.

[structure: see text] The synthesis of a chemiluminescent acridinium hydroxylamine (AHA) for the direct detection of abasic sites in damaged nucleic acids is described. The reagent reacts readily with abasic sites of damaged calf thymus DNA generated in a time-dependent manner under acid/heat depurination conditions. Preliminary results indicate the sensitivity of the direct chemiluminescent detection format is approximately 0.1 abasic sites detected per 10(6) nucleotides using as little as 200 ng of DNA.

Synthesis of 6 beta-aminoestradiol and its biotin, acridinium, and fluorescein conjugates.

Amination of 3,17 beta-Bis[(2-trimethylsilylethoxy) methoxy]-1,3,5(10)-estratriene-6-one (2) using NaCNBH4 and NH4OAc afforded 3,17-bis(SEM)-6-aminoestradiol (3) as a mixture of alpha and beta-isomers in 60:40 ratio. Hydrolysis of the mixture of 3 using HF and separation by preparative high-performance liquid chromatography afforded pure 6 beta-aminoestradiol (4) in good yield. The relative stereochemistry of the amino group in 4 was established by NMR. The biotinylated estradiol probe (7), chemiluminescent probe (9), and fluorescent probe (11), were prepared from 6 beta-aminoestradiol (4) and the corresponding biotin, 10-(3-sulfopropyl)-N-tosyl-N-(3-carboxypropyl)acridinium-9-carboxamide, and 5-carboxyfluorescein N-succinimidyl esters in 43-63% yields and > 99% purity.

Immunoassay reagents for thyroid testing. 3. Determination of the solution binding affinities of a T4 monoclonal antibody Fab fragment for a library of thyroxine analogs using surface plasmon resonance.

A library of thyroxine analogs and tracers was prepared, and their solution binding affinities for an anti-T4 Fab fragment were determined using a single high-density L-T4 biosensor surface in a BIAcore surface plasmon resonance instrument. The high-density L-T4 analog biosensor was calibrated by determination of the initial binding rate was of known concentrations of free anti-T4 Fab fragment in solution to the biosensor surface. A range of individual thyroxine analog and tracer concentrations was subsequently mixed with a fixed concentration of anti-T4 Fab fragment. The concentration of free anti-T4 Fab fragment in each solution at equilibrium was determined, and the equilibrium dissociation constant (KD) for each case was derived. The KD values determined in solution are compared to values determined by a direct kinetic analysis on the BIAcore instrument using individual biosensor surfaces.

Tracermer signal generators: an arborescent approach to the incorporation of multiple chemiluminescent labels.

The synthesis, conjugation, and chemiluminescent evaluation of zero, first, and second order acridinium-based Tracermer signal generators are described. Members of this family of labels have potential use as tracers in diagnostic assays and are structurally similar to arborol dendrimers. Tracermer-BSA conjugates showed up to a sixfold increase in light emission compared to the normal acridinium label.

O-(fluoresceinylmethyl)hydroxylamine (OFMHA): a fluorescent reagent for detection of damaged nucleic acids.

5- and 6-O-(Fluoresceinylmethyl)hydroxylamine (OFMHA, 5a, b) were prepared from the corresponding bis-pivaloyl-protected hydroxymethylfluoresceins (1a, b) in 50-70% yield. The hydroxylamine derivatives reacted smoothly with the abasic sites present in acid/heat stressed calf thymus DNA.

Estradiol-mimetic probes. Preparation of 17 alpha-(6-aminohexynyl)estradiol biotin, fluorescein and acridinium conjugates.

3-O-tert-Butyldimethylsilyl-17 alpha-(6-mesyloxyhexynyl)estradiol was converted to the azide in 60-70% yield with NaN3/DMPU, then reduced to the corresponding amine (> 95% yield). Acylation with the N-hydroxysuccinimide esters of biotin, 5-carboxyfluorescein and 10-(3-sulfopropyl)-N-tosyl-N-(3- carboxypropyl)acridinium-9-carboxamide gave the title conjugates. The KDs of the tracers with an estradiol antibody ranged from 97-197 nM.

An efficient stereoselective synthesis of 6-alpha-aminoestradiol: preparation of estradiol fluorescent probes.

6-Oxoestradiol (2) was protected as its bis[(2-trimethylsilylethoxy)methyl] ether (4) and converted to the corresponding oxime (4). The oxime (4) on reduction with zinc in ethanol afforded the bis-SEM ether of 6-alpha-aminoestradiol (5) in 96% epimeric excess. Subsequently, 5 was hydrolyzed with HF to 6-alpha-aminoestradiol (6) in good yield. The absolute stereochemistry of the amino group in 6 was established by NMR and confirmed by X-ray crystallography on the corresponding 4-bromobenzamide derivative (9). Treatment of amine (6) with 6-(t-butoxycarbonylamino)hexanoic acid succinimidyl ester (10) followed by hydrolysis produced the amine (12) with a C-6 linker. The fluorescent probes (7 and 13) were prepared from 6 and 12 respectively, in 54-60% yield and > 99% purity.

Immunoassay reagents for thyroid testing. 2. Binding properties and energetic parameters of a T4 monoclonal antibody and its Fab fragment with a library of thyroxine analog biosensors using surface plasmon resonance.

A library of 16 thyroxine analog biosensors were prepared for use on the BIAcore surface plasmon resonance instrument. An anti-thyroxine monoclonal antibody and its Fab fragment were tested with each biosensor to generate the association and dissociation rate constants, equilibrium association constants, and Gibbs free energy values for characterizing the binding event.

Characterization of protein-hapten conjugates. 2. Electrospray mass spectrometry of bovine serum albumin-hapten conjugates.

Fifteen hapten-bovine serum albumin (BSA) conjugates were prepared from five commercially available activated haptens. Each hapten was coupled to BSA at three different ratios. The conjugates were characterized by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and two mass spectrometry (MS) methods: matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) and liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization (LC-ESI). SDS-PAGE was useful in detecting protein cross-linking, but not assessing hapten density. MALDI-MS and LC-ESI-MS gave comparable qualitative results, but LC-ESI-MS provided a clearer representation of the distribution of hapten-protein species present in the conjugates. Conjugate species substitute with up to 25 haptens per BSA were recorded by LC-ESI-MS.

A convenient method for the preparation of hapten phosphoramidites.

Automated incorporation of haptens at the 3' or 5' end of oligonucleotides required the preparation of the corresponding hapten phosphoramidites. The requisite 1,3-diol framework was prepared in two steps from a carboxylic acid precursor first by a two-carbon homologation using Meldrum's acid to form the corresponding 3-oxo ester and then subsequent reduction to the diol. The primary alcohol was protected with a dimethoxytrityl group, while the secondary alcohol was converted to the reactive phosphoramidite.

Digoxin dialdehyde reductive aminations. Structure proof of the perhydro-1,4-oxazepine product.

Digoxin dialdehyde reportedly undergoes reductive amination with primary amines to form a perhydro-1,4-oxazepine; however, no structural proof has been published to substantiate this belief. A digoxin perhydro-1,4-oxazepine derivative has been isolated from the reductive amination of digoxin dialdehyde and its structure determined by mass spectroscopy and NMR measurements. Comparison of the NMR, mass spectroscopy, and HPLC of two compounds obtained from the degradation of the digoxin reductive amination product with synthesized perhydro-1,4-oxazepine diastereomers showed them to be identical. We conclude that, under appropriate conditions, reductive amination products can be obtained, but caution that other products may be produced as well, especially under the conditions of bioconjugation to proteins.