IMMUNOASSAY FOR GLYCOALBUMIN WITH MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY

THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP A SIMPLE, SPECIFIC, AND RAPID IMMUNODIAGNOSTIC TEST TO MEASURE THE AMOUNT OF NONENZYMATICALLY GLYCATED ALBUMIN IN HUMAN PLASMA. THE TESTWILL BE AN ELISA CONSTRUCT THAT EMPLOYS A MONOCLONAL ANTIBODY THAT SPECIFICALLY RECOGNIZES GLYCATED ALBUMIN, AN INDEX OF THE AMBIENT BLOOD GLUCOSE CONCENTRATIONS OVER THE PRECEDING 2 TO 3 WEEKS. CLINICAL INVESTIGATIONS HAVE ESTABLISHED THAT PERIODIC ASSESSMENT OF THE PREVAILING BLOOD GLUCOSE LEVEL IS ESSENTIAL TO CONTROLLING DIABETES. THE MAINSTAY OF MONITORING DIABETIC CONTROL IS MEASUREMENT OF BLOOD GLUCOSE CONCENTRATION AND THE EXTENT TO WHICH CERTAIN CIRCULATING PROTEINS HAVE BECOME NONENZYMATICALLY GLYCATED. THE MAJOR PROTEINS FOR WHICH IT HAS BEEN FOUND USEFUL TO MEASURE THE AMOUNT OF NONENZYMATIC GLYCATION ARE HEMOGLOBIN AND ALBUMIN. GLYCOHEMOGLOBIN IS MEASURED EVERY 2 TO 3 MONTHS FOR AN OBJECTIVE EVALUATION OF THE AMBIENT GLUCOSE CONTROL DURING THAT PRECEDING PERIOD, WHEREAS GLYCOALBUMIN CAN BE MEASURED AT SHORTER INTERVALS TO DETECT AND DOCUMENT IMPROVEMENT OR DETERIORATION IN CONTROL OF MORE RECENT TEMPORAL RELEVANCE. HOWEVER, THERE HAS BEEN NO RELIABLE AND SPECIFIC METHOD TO QUANTITATE GLYCOALBUMIN. THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO DEVELOP SUCH A METHOD, USING A UNIQUE AND HIGHLY SPECIFIC MONOCLONALANTIBODY THAT RECOGNIZES GLYCATED EPITOPES RESIDING IN ALBUMIN BUT NOT IN OTHER PLASMA PROTEINS AND THAT DOES NOT REACT WITH UNGLYCATED ALBUMIN.