PRODUCTION OF POLYCLONAL ANTIBODIES IN RABBITS

CHOLINESTERASES ARE WIDELY DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT THE BODY. THEY HYDROLYZE ACETYLCHOLINE (ACH), A COMPOUND WHICH SERVES ALSO AS THE NEUROHUMORAL AGENT IN PERIPHERAL JUNCTION TRANSMISSION. CHOLINESTERASES ARE KNOWN TO BE CRUCIAL FOR CHOLINERGIC NEUROTRANSMISSION AND OCCUR AT HIGH CONCENTRATIONS IN THE IMMEDIATE VICINITY OF NERVE ENDINGS WHERE THEY HYDROLYZE ACH IN LESS THAN A MILLISECOND. RESEARCH ON CHOLINESTERASES IS AN IMPORTANT AREA OF MEDICAL RESEARCH. ANOTHER IMPORTANT MEDICAL RESEARCH AREA IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF EFFECTIVE TREATMENTS FOR HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS (HIV) DISEASE. THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PHASE I APPLICATION IS TO RAISE ANTIBODIES FROM RABBITS AGAINST CHOLINESTERASE, BUTYRYLCHOLINESTERASE, GLYCOSYLATED BUTYRYLCHOLINESTERASE, SYNTHETIC PEPTIDES THAT MIMIC SELECTED AREAS OF THE HIV VIRUS PROTEINS, AND ALSO AGAINST MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES WHICH INHIBIT THE CATALYTIC ACTIVITY OF CHOLINESTERASE. THE IMMUNOGENS USED IN THE PREPARATION OF THE ANTIBODIES WILL BE SUPPLIED BY WRAIR. THE BINDING CAPACITY OF THE ANTIBODIES TO THE IMMUNOGEN WILL BE DETERMINED BY ENZYME LINKED IMMUNOSORBANT ASSAY (ELISA). THE ANTIBODIES WILL BE SUBMITTED TO WRAIR FOR USE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ASSAY PROCEDURES, LOCALIZATION OF CHOLINESTERASE ACTIVITY, AND UNDERSTANDING THE MECHANISMS OF ACTION IN VARIOUS TISSUES. ANTIBODIES PREPARED AGAINST PEPTIDES THAT MIMIC SELECTED AREAS OF THE HIV VIRUS PROTEINS WILL BE USED TO IDENTIFY THE VIRUS, LOCALIZE IT, AND FOR ELUCIDATING THE MODE OF ACTION OF NEW TREATMENT MODALITIES.