Design and Synthesis of Compound-specific Haptens for Zearalenone
Zearalenone (ZEN, also called F-2 mycotoxin) is produced as a secondary metabolite by some Fusarium fungi, and it has been recognized as one of the most frequent contaminants in feedstuffs and grains. Therefore, to minimize the risk to humans and animals, more and more researchers focus on developing the detection tests to monitor ZENs among crops. Creative Biolabs provides the design and synthesis services of compound-specific haptens for ZEN relied on our advanced technologies and experienced staff.
Zearalenones (ZENs)
The toxicity of ZEN is accompanied by typical signs of hyperestrogenism or hepatoxicity, and precocious puberty, infertility in girls, and oestrogenic syndrome in swine. ZEN is also a carcinogen that can damage DNA and has reproductive toxicity and immunosuppression effects in animals and humans. In humans, ZEN can be quickly absorbed after oral administration, and is metabolized into α-zearalenol (α-ZEL), β-zearalenol (β-ZEL), α-zearalanol (α-ZAL), β-zearalanol (β-ZAL), and zearalanone (ZAN), shown in Fig.1.
Figure.1 The table of analogs of basic information on ZENs. (Xu, 2019)
Design and Synthesis of Compound-specific Haptens for Zearalenone
Because of the sensitivity, reliability, rapidity, usability, and portability of immunoassays, some monoclonal antibody-based indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ic-ELISA) or ELISA methods are widely used in the design and synthesis of compound-specific haptens for ZENs. Furthermore, these methods can evaluate ZEN and its analogs during the process of design and synthesis of anti-ZEN antibodies.
Figure.2 The compound-specific haptens for ZEN.
To develop a hapten, Creative Biolabs will design and synthesize haptens with different spacer arms. It is noticed that the spacer arms should be far from the functional groups for avoiding the affecting recognition of antibodies to the hapten. Then, we will prepare for conjugates and hapten derivatives. Within this step, we need the characterization of conjugates and choose which one is more sensitive and high affinity at the same time. Based on these steps, we finally verify the one with the optimal spacer arms.
A hapten is the smallest chemical moiety of an epitope that can bind effectively to the antigen-binding site of an antibody. Haptens play an important role in evaluating the structure of epitopes and the valence, specificity, affinity, and heterogeneity of antibodies. They have also been used in antibody purification, production of specific monoclonal antibodies, and investigation of biological properties of antibodies. Creative Biolabs offers the design and synthesis of compound-specific haptens for ZENs. Creative Biolabs’ advanced technologies and highly experienced staffs are committed to advancing your program and reducing the overall development timeline. Moreover, we will work with customers to define specific requirements and expectations to meet the partnership objectives. If you are interested in this service or the design and synthesis of class-specific haptens for ZENs and want to know more information, please feel free to contact us.
Reference
- Xu, C.; et al. Zearalenone. Food Immunoassay. 2019: 23-24.