COLORIMETRIC MEASUREMENT OF MILK PROGESTERONE

IN THIS PROJECT, THE FEASIBILITY OF A NOVEL, SOLID-PHASE, COLORIMETRIC ASSAY WILL BE INVESTIGATED; MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES WILL BE COVALENTLY IMMOBILIZED ON GLASS AS THE SOLID MATRIX. SEVERAL CHEMICAL REACTIONS WILL BE STUDIED TO IDENTIFY LINKAGES THAT GIVE LOW NONSPECIFIC BINDING OF PROTEINS AND SMALL MOLECULES WHILE MAINTAINING THE INTEGRITY OF IMMUNOGLOBULINS. GLASS WILL BE CHEMICALLY REFINED TO OBTAIN A UNIFORM, REPRODUCIBLE COAT OF ANTIBODIES INDEPENDENT OF THE PHYSICAL HISTORY OF GLASS AND BATCH-TO-BATCH VARIATION. A NEW CONJUGATE, HAPTEN-BIOTIN, WILL BE EVALUATED WITH STREPTAVIDIN-ENZYME ASA TRACER FOR COLORIMETRIC QUANTIFICATION. THE RESULTING SOLID-PHASE ASSAY WILL BE IMPLEMENTED INITIALLY FOR MEASUREMENT OF PROGRESTERONE IN MILK OF COWS. BIOQUANT OF ANN ARBOR, INC. INTENDS TO DEVELOP A SIMPLE, RELIABLE ASSAY FOR MONITORING ESTROUS CYCLE, OVARIAN CYCLICITY POSTPARTUM, OVARIAN DYSFUNCTION, AND PREGNANCY IN DAIRY COWS. A PRACTICAL PROCEDURE TO MEASURE PROGESTERONE CONCENTRATION IN MILK OUTSIDE A LABORATORY SETTING ALSO HAS SUBSTANTIAL ECONOMIC VALUE IN CATTLE BREEDING. PHASE I OF THIS PROJECT WILL ESTABLISH THE FEASIBILITY OF SUCH A METHOD AND PHASE II WILL BE DEVOTED TO SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENT OF AN ASSAY THAT CAN BE PERFORMED UNDER FIELD CONDITIONS BY NONTRAINED PERSONNEL.