Cross reactivity between human erythropoietin antibody and horse erythropoietin.
Abstract: Erythropoietin (EPO) is the primary hormone of erythropoiesis. Administration of recombinant human erythropoietin (rhuEPO) to improve racing performance in the horse represents a new form of blood doping, which has been associated with increased mortality. While immunoassay kits have become plentiful, very few commercial hormone assays are made specifically for equine research. There is a strong degree of sequence homology reported for EPO among species, which has allowed antibodies designed for human EPO research to be used to determine EPO concentration in other species. The objective of the present study was to use Western blot analysis to determine whether the antibody to rhuEPO, provided in a commercial radioimmunoassay (RIA) kit, recognizes horse EPO. Western blot analysis of purified rhuEPO and horse plasma was conducted, using the polyclonal goat-antihuman EPO antibody supplied in the Incstar EPO Trac RIA as the primary antibody. Immunoblot analysis revealed a major band at approximately 52 kDa for both rhuEPO and the horse plasma. Our results demonstrate that a human EPO antibody recognizes equine EPO. These findings show that the Incstar EPO Trac RIA hormone assay system can be used to measure equine EPO.
Publication Date: 2000-06-01 PubMed ID: 10832872DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1522-2683(20000501)21:83.0.CO;2-GGoogle Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
Summary
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The research article is about determining if a human erythropoietin (EPO) antibody can recognize the equivalent EPO hormone in horses. The study found that antibodies produced for human research can also be used to measure equine EPO.
Explanation of the Research Paper
- Erythropoietin (EPO), a hormone vital for the production of red blood cells, shares a strong degree of sequence homology (similarities in genetic sequence) among different species. This implies that EPO from different species are quite similar in their structures.
- The usage of recombinant human erythropoietin (rhuEPO) as a performance-enhancing drug in horse racing is a newly identified form of blood doping. Unfortunately, its use is associated with increased mortality rates. It is thus essential to develop accurate assays or testing methods to measure the presence of EPO in horse blood.
- Even though immunoassay kits (blood testing kits) are available in abundance, very few are designed specifically for equine (horse) research. Therefore, researchers aimed to determine if the antibody to rhuEPO, typically provided in humans’ testing kits, could recognize equine EPO.
- Immunoassays are highly sensitive tests used to detect the presence of particular molecules, such as hormones or antibodies. Here, radioimmunoassay (RIA), a type of immunoassay, was used.
- To test this hypothesis, the researchers conducted a Western blot analysis. This technique is used to identify and quantify specific proteins in a sample. The researchers compared the immunoblot analyses of rhuEPO and horse plasma, using the antibody supplied in the Incstar EPO Trac RIA. They observed a major band at approximately 52kDa for both rhuEPO and the horse sample.
- The results of this study showed that the human EPO antibody can indeed recognize equine EPO. This finding suggests that the human Immunoassay Hormone Assay System (Incstar EPO Trac RIA) can be utilized in the future to measure equine EPO concentration.
Cite This Article
APA
Kearns CF, Lenhart JA, McKeever KH.
(2000).
Cross reactivity between human erythropoietin antibody and horse erythropoietin.
Electrophoresis, 21(8), 1454-1457.
https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1522-2683(20000501)21:83.0.CO;2-G Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Animal Science, Rutgers the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick 08901-8525, USA.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Antibodies / immunology
- Antibody Specificity
- Blotting, Western
- Cross Reactions
- Erythropoietin / immunology
- Female
- Horses
- Humans
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