PRODUCTION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF A SPECIFIC MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODY AGAINST MYCOTOXIN ZEARALENONE

A monoclonal antibody specific for zearalenone (ZEN) was produced by fusion of mouse myeloma cells (NS-1) and splenocytes isolated from BALB/c mice that had been immunized with a novel type of immunogen. The immunogen was prepared by coupling 5-aminozearalenone, which was synthesized from ZEN in two steps, with bovine serum albumin through the amino group at the C-5 position of the compound. The anti-ZEN monoclonal antibody (Ab 7-1-144) thus obtained belonged to the IgG1 subclass with λ light chain. The association constant of the antibody for ZEN was 1.1 x 108 L/mol. Crossreaction studies showed that the antibody was highly specific for ZEN. The cross-reactivities of this antibody for zearalanone, ZEN 4-methyl ether, α-zearalenol, and ZEN 2,4-dimethyl ether were 4.0, 2.5, 0.9, and 0.3%, respectively, of that found for ZEN. Practically no cross-reactivity was observed with β-zearalenol, α- and β-zearalanols, and trichothecene mycotoxins including T-2 toxin, nivalenol, and deoxynivalenol. An indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) based on the competitive binding principle was developed for the detection of ZEN using Ab 7-1-144. The response range for ZEN in the present study was between 0.3 and 100 ng/mL (15 and 5000 picograms per assay). The binding inhibition by ZEN was nearly linear in this range. © 1990, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.