In producing an antibody using a low molecular substance as an antigen, it is necessary to immunize with an immunogen which is prepared by binding the antigen to protein. Therefore, it is difficult to produce an antibody having a high affinity to the antigen. According to the present invention, investigations were made, paying attention to the molecular structure, especially the structure at the site binding to protein, of the antigen in production of the immunogen. As the result, there is used a process which comprises preparing an antigen derivative (e.g., aminobutyl amphetamine) using a compound (e.g., amphetamine) having such a structure that an alkyl group of the desired antigen (e.g., methamphetamine) is replaced with hydrogen atom, and then binding the antigen derivative with protein. Immunization using the thus obtained immunogen gives an antibody having a high affinity to methamphetamine and improved sensitivity of immunoassay by about 1000 times. Furthermore, by this immunogen, a monoclonal antibody having a high affinity to methamphetamine can be produced.
在使用低分子物质作为抗原生产
抗体时,必须使用通过将抗原与蛋白质结合而制备的免疫原进行免疫。因此,很难制备出与抗原具有高亲和力的
抗体。根据本发明,对生产免疫原时抗原的分子结构,特别是与蛋白质结合部位的结构进行了研究。因此,本发明采用了一种工艺,该工艺包括用一种化合物(如
安非他明)制备抗原衍
生物(如
氨基丁基
安非他明),该化合物具有这样的结构,即所需抗原(如甲基
安非他明)的烷基被氢原子取代,然后将抗原衍
生物与蛋白质结合。使用这样得到的免疫原进行免疫,可得到
对甲基苯丙胺具有高亲和力的
抗体,免疫测定的灵敏度可提高约 1000 倍。此外,利用这种免疫原还可以制备出
对甲基苯丙胺具有高亲和力的单克隆
抗体。