CA2009643A1 - Immunoassay for fhap and antibody useful therewith - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract Antibodies, hybridomas, and immunoassays relating to a fast electrophoretic mobility alkaline phosphatase variant in serum ("FHAP") are disclosed. FHAP is a disease (e.g.
cancer) marker. One aspect of the disclosure is the measuring of the physical association of two different components of FHAP as part of the assay.

Description

~ . _ This invention relates generally to an immunoassay for FHAP (a cancer marker) in serum. More particularly it relates to measuring the physical association of two FHAP
constituents as an indicator of disease.

Backqround Of The Invention The blood of persons having diseases involving tissue degeneration often contains elevated levels of membrane fragments. See enerallv K. Shinkai et al., 32 Can. Res.
2307-2313 (1972). The disclosure of this article and of all other articles and patents referred to herein are incorpo-rated by reference as if fully set forth herein. One such fragment, "FHAP", has been separated by electrophoresis (see e.g. U.S. patent 4,166,766) and was first detected by its alkaline phosphatase activity. Its unique ~(fast) electro-phoret~c mobility and its sensitivity to inhibition by homoarginine are the basis of its acronym. In this regard, FHAP is faster than liver alkaline phosphatase in certain types of cellulose acetate electrophoresis.
Research ha~ shown that FHAP is a marker for a wide variety of cancers. See e.g. R. Bowser-Finn et al., 7 Tumour 3iology 343-352 (1986). While FHAP was initially assumed to be an isoenzyme, the substance is in fact a large complex containing, inter alia, alkaline phosphatase, leucine aminopeptidase, gamma-glutamyl transferase and 5' nucleotidase. Since these enzymes are enzymes present in membranes, it is now believed that FHAP is comprised of fragment~ of cell membranes that are generated during various stages of certain diseases.

While FHAP levels in serum may be measured by cellulose polyacetate electrophoresis, the relativ~ly poor sensitivity of this method limits its usefulness to a small number of cases in which the FHAP concentration approaches the free liver/bone/kidney alkaline phosphatase concentration. FHAP
levels in serum may also be measured by an ion-exchange separation and the enzyme assay detailed in U.S. patent 4,166,766. However, this requires a substantial amount of serum per determination and undue cost and time. Also, the sensitivity of the assay may in some cases permit detection of FHAP-like material which is present in the serum of healthy controls.
Attempts have been made to develop antibodie~ to FHAP as a first step towards developing immunoassays. However, prior to the present invention these efforts have proved unsuccessful. A further problem is that while prior art as~ays gave information as to quantitative levels, they told little about the type of cancer or the stagé of cancer.
Thus, a need exists for a FHAP test which provides a greater amount of information about the disease and which is easier to use.

I Summarv Of The Invention The invention provides an antibody to FHAP. The invention also provides a hybridoma capable of producing antibodies to FHAP, preferably monoclonal antibodies.
Another aspect of the invention provides an assay. In a preferred form, one exposes a specimen (e.g. human blood serum) to a compol~rd !e.g. an antibody) which recognizes a first part of FHAP. One then determines the presence in the specimen of a second, different part of FHAP and the degree ., ... , . . . , . .~

to which it is physically associated with the first portion. One then compares the assay results against control levels to provide an indication of the likelihood of disease.
S In an especially preferred form, prior to the exposing step mouse antibody to FHAP has been provided and it has been anchored to a solid surface (e.g. a well). One can do this by directly absorbing the antibody to the well or by using sheep anti-mouse IgG to link the mouse antibody to the well, with the anti-mouse IgG being pre-attached to the well. During the exposing step the FHAP first portion becomes bound to the mouse antibody (and thus is attached to the well). Since the first FHAP portion remains bound to the ~HAP second portion, the second FHAP portion is then also "dragged" out of solution. As an alternative to coated wells, a precipitating compound can be linked to the anti-body before or after the antibody is exposed to the ~HAP.
The ~etermining step preferably involves measuring alkaline phosphatase enzyme activity of material bound to the well. Since one antibody which was found was not directed to the alkaline phosphatase, this determining step re~ulted in the measurement of the association of two different FHAP parameters. This may give greater insight into the origin and stage of the cancer, and significantly reduces false positives becauses it minimizes interference ~rom free alkaline phosphatase.
It should be appreciated that prior attempts to screen or antibodies to FHAP were unsuccessful. One aspect of the invention was therefore to design a means for detecting hybridomas that produce the antibodies. It was discovered that using a detergent as a screening aid was required. The objects of the invention therefore include:
~a) providing antibodies and hybridomas of the above kind;
(b) providing an immunoassay of the above kind; and (c) providing assays of the above kind which are inexpensive to use, reliable, and informative.
These and still other objects and advantages of the inven-tion will be apparent from the description below.

Preferred Embodiments A. Obtaining A Sam~le Of F~AP
One method of isolating FHAP is described in U.S. patent 4,166,766. Another preferred technique is:
1. Dialysis of human blood serum v. 100 mM NaCl, 20 mM Tris (pH 8 at 4), 1 mM MgC12, 20 ~M ZnCl; 18 h, 4C, 600 volume~ dialysis buffer.
2. Centrifuge 7000 x g ~15 min).

3. Gel filtration~ Sephacryl S-400 column (74 x v ~ 10 cm) at 600 ml/hr.
!'~ 20 4. Pooled void volume fractions applied to 30 x 1.6 cm DEA~-Sephacel column. Wash with 200 ml of sample buffer.
Elute with 0.1-0.6 M NaCl linear gradient.
5. Pool highest specific activity material.
B. Obtaining An Antibody To FHAP
While several techniques of hybridoma and antibody creation are now well know ~see qenerallv P. Ey et al., 15 Immunochemistry 429-436 (1978)), attempts to screen for antibodies to FHAP had previously proved unsuccessful. To overcome these problems, the following procedure was used:

1. Immunize a BALB/c mouse with partiall~ ~u0r9fi~e~
FHAP.
2. Remove mouse spleen and fuse spleen cells with NS-l myeloma cells using standard techniques.
3. Detect hybridoma cells which produce antibodies to FHAP by screening candidate antibodies as follows:
(a) Coat polystrene microtiter plates with sheep anti-mouse Ig~SAMIgG1~
(b) Add 10% by volume of 10~ Triton X-100 (a detergent) to tissue culture supernatants ~new step).
(c) Incubate tissue culture supernatant (0.1 ml) in the wells of the SAMIgG coated plates.
(d) Wash the plate.
(e) Add pooled human serum known to contain high levels of FHAP.
(f) Wagh the plate.
rnc~4~ ifCf'~1 9 ~" (g) Add 0.2 mg/ml~ ~r~ phosphate J ~ 127~ "' 2~ no-~-ne~ 1- Orop4nol K J , , in 1.0 M~ o~:y~ , pH 9.9 containing 20 ~M ZnC12 and 1.0 mM MgC12 (this causes increasing fluorescence as a function of time in the presence of alkaline phosphatase, which FHAP has).
(h) Measure fluorescence levels at 0 minutes and 90 minutes. Compute the difference in fluorescence.
(i) The test is positive if the computed dif-ference i8 significantly elevated above,1h~ difference ob~erved with negative control media (tissue culture 3upernatant from NS-l cells).
- Note the use of the unique screening agent, Triton X-100, a detergent. It wag discovered that detergent must be ; 30 used because mouse hybridornas naturally releage membrane fragments when growing in culture. Fragments from the hybridom~s will therefore have immunoglobulins and alkaline phosphatase and thus will give false positive results, regardless of the specificity of the antibody, using screening tests based on alkaline phosphatase. The triton X-100 disrupts the ~ouse membrane fragments - separating the immunoglobulin and the alkaline phosphatase (and then the detergent and the alkaline phosphatase are washed away at step e). In this way, only antibodies which bind fragments with alkaline phosphatase from the human serum added in step (e) are detected.
A preferred hybridoma was deposited as ATCC HB9643 on Pebruary 8, 1988 at the American Type Culture Collection, Rockville, Maryland, U.S.A., with viability confirmed February 10, 1988. The culture will be made available as required by applicable patent law. Such availability is not intended as a license. The strain is designated as Anti-FHA~ Murine hybridoma K 160C2-D2.lG. The antibody it produces recognizes the leucine aminopeptidase portion of FHAP.
C. Immunoassay We coated 96 Well Flow Laboratories Titertek polystyrene k l ~oc~r) ~
EIA plates with the purified ~Cr;~ antibody. The b~S antibody was dissolved at 10 micrograms per ml in 0.15 M
NaCl, 0.10 M tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane buffer, pH 9.0 at 25C. We then added 0.1 ml antibody solution to each well in columns 3, 4, 7, 8, 11 and 12, and then vortex mixed the plate on a Bellco Miniorbital Shaker for 5 seconds at speed 7. After this, we covered the plates and placed them in a ~ealed plastic bag and incubated the plates 15-18 hours .

Z0~9643 at 25C. Thereafter, we washed the plates five times with 0.15 M NaCl, 0.10 M tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane buffer, pH 9Ø Ne then inverted the plates and pounded them on a paper towel to remove residual buffer and then air dried the plates and stored them covered at 4C. The wells are of a type where the antibody absorbs directly to the plastic wells .
To run the assay, one dilutes blood serum 20-fold with solution A (0.15 M NaCl, 0.05 M tris(hydroxy-methyl)aminomethane buffer, pH 7.4 at 25C, 0.001 M MgC12, 0.02 mM ZnCl2, 0.0046 M NaN3, 2.5 g/L gelatin). A positive control serum should be appropriately diluted with the same buffer (e.g. 120-fold). One then dispenses 0.2 ml samples into each of four adjacent wells in the same row (e.g. Bl, B2, B3, and B4), dispenses 0.2 ml solution A in wells Al, A2, A3, and A4, and dispenses 0.2 ml diluted positive con-tral in wells H9, H10, Hll, and H12. Thereafter, one covers and vortex mixes at speed 7 for 5 seconds, and incubates in a water saturated atmosphere at 25C for 40-42 hours. Note that the dilution of the sample is required to minimize interference from free ~HAP antigen in serum samples (in this case non-FHAP bound leucine aminopeptidase).
The next step is to wash away any unbound materials. To do this, one inverts the plate and shakes out the sample solutions. One then pounds the plate once on a paper towel and washes the plate five times with solution B
(0.15 M NaCl, 0.05 M tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane buffer, pH 7.4 at 2SC, 0.00l M MgC12, 0.02 mM ZnCl2, 0.0046 M NaN3) using an automatic plate wa~her. Thereafter, one pounds the plate once on a paper towel.

Next, one measures the presence of a different protein (or non-protein antigen) which is physically associated with the antigen recognized by the antibody that is bound to the solid surface. This substance may be an enzyme, a protein S antigen, or a non-protein antigen which is noncovale~ly 1~12~7/~
associated with the protein antigen recognized by the antibody. The preferred system is to measure alkaline phosphatase enzyme activity of the compounds bound to the well by dispensing 0.2 ml of solution C (0.2 mg/ml sodium 4-methylumbelliferyl phosphate, lM 2-amino 2-methyl 1-propanol, pH 10.3 at 25C, 0.001 M MgC12, 0.020 mM ZnC12) into each well. One then dispenses 0.2 ml solution C into several wells of another plate and adds 0.01 ml diluted control serum to each well (e.g. Sigma Chemical Company 2N
Enzyme Control diluted 64-fold or 128-fold with solution A).
After incubating 240 minutes in the dark at 25C one measures the fluorescence in each well, exciting with light at 340 to ~00 nm and measuring emission at 450 nm. Both the Dynatech Laboratories, Inc. Microfluor Reader and the Flow Laboratories Titertek Fluoroskan are suitable instruments.
For each sample, one calculates the difference between the average of the two values for the wells which were coated with antibody and the average of the two values for the wells which were not coated (e.g. ~B3 + B4 - Bl - B2]/2).
Note that the second compound could also be measured by immunological techniques (such as by the binding of a radioactive or enzyme conjugated antibody specific for the second protein) or by other means.
Finally, one compares the amount of physically associated second compound with the upper limit of normal.

2009~i43 In the above example, the upper limit of normal controls was 0.2 IU/~ alkaline phosphatase associated with the antigen o c ~ ~
recognized by antibod~y ~6eeYD2~ Higher concentrations of b~ alkaline phosphatase associated with this antigen are frequently observed in individuals with cancer, hepatitis and diabetes.
Improvements achieved in the above example over previous methods include a reduction in sample required, elimination of an ion exchange, electrophoretic or gel filtration separation step, and improved specificity. Moreover, it is I~S~ 1n co~b-n~ v r ~ ~ ~ O. ~ S~S
hoped that~oF~ e~ of this assay~ r~
~< o~ e C~ ~ ~o S l~;o~ of ~h e n~ bfanc ~aç r, ~5 ~ ~ nJ, .f ,d.. ~ I
gq I r, ~lcn~ Se~u~ Sqmpl~S
th~ ~ntibody in a ao~petitivc binding as~y with }~bellcd 1cuoino amLnopeptid~4~)~ and Çu~thc an~ly~4s~e~ p~icnt da~ar will lead to information relatinq to the origin or state of the disease.
The invention ~s not limited to use of any single antibody or hybridoma, or even just to those derived (e.g.
directly or indirectly derived) therefrom. Thu3, the invention is not to be limited to just the preferred embodiments. Rather, the claims should be referred to in .
assessing the full breadth of the invention.

_g_ .. .

Claims (15)

Claims We claim:

1. An antibody to FHAP.

2. The antibody of claim 1 wherein the antibody is also an antibody to leucine aminopeptidase.

3. The antibody of claim 1, wherein the antibody was derived from the hybridoma of ATCC HB9643 or the progeny of ATCC HB9643.

4. A hybridoma capable of producing antibody to FHAP.

5. The hybridoma of claim 4, which is capable of producing monoclonal antibody to FHAP.

6. The hybridoma of claim 4, wherein the antibody it is capable of producing also is an antibody to leucine aminopeptidase.

7. The hybridoma of claim 4, wherein the hybridoma was derived from ATCC HB9643 or the progeny of HB9643.

8. An assay comprising the steps of:
exposing a specimen to a compound which recognizes a first part of FHAP;
then determining the presence in the specimen of a second, different part of FHAP and the degree to which it is physically associated with the first portion.

9. The assay of claim 8, wherein the compound is an antibody that binds to the first part of FHAP.

10. The assay of claim 9, wherein prior to the exposing step the antibody has been anchored to a solid surface.

11. The assay of claim 10, wherein the solid surface is part of a wall surface.

12. The assay of claim 10, wherein during the exposing step the FHAP first portion is bound to the solid surface via the antibody while remaining bound to the FHAP second portion.

13. The assay of claim 8, wherein the determining step measures alkaline phosphatase enzyme activity.

14. The assay of claim 8, comprising the further step of:
comparing the assay results against control levels to determine an indication of the likelihood of disease.

15. A method for screening for the presence of a hybridoma capable of producing an antibody for FHAP which involves using a plate coated with another antibody, the method comprising:
adding a detergent to the specimen during the screening.