Development and Utilization of a Fluorescence-Based Receptor-Binding Assay for the Site 5 Voltage-Sensitive Sodium Channel Ligands Brevetoxin and Ciguatoxin

Brevetoxins are a family of ladder-frame polyether toxins produced during blooms of the marine dinoflagellate Karenia brevis. Consumption of fish exposed to K. brevis blooms can lead to the development of neurotoxic shellfish poisoning. The toxic effects of brevetoxins are due to activation of voltage-sensitive sodium channels (VSSCs) in cell membranes. Binding of toxins has historically been measured using a radioligand competition assay that is fraught with difficulty. In thisstudy, we developed a novel fluorescence-based binding assay for the brevetoxin receptor. Several fluorophores were conjugated to polyether brevetoxin-2 andused as the labeled ligand. Brevetoxin analogs were able to compete for binding with the fluorescent ligands. This assay was qualified against the standard radioligand receptor assay for the brevetoxin receptor. Furthermore, the fluorescence-based assay was used to determine relative concentrations of toxins inraw extracts of K. brevis culture, and to determine ciguatoxin affinity to site 5 of VSSCs. The fluorescence-based assay was quicker, safer, and far less expensive. As such, this assay can beused to replace the current radioligand assay and will be a vital tool for future experiments examining the binding affinity of various ligands for site 5 on sodium channels.

Biological and immunological properties of the international standard for FSH 83/575: isoelectrofocusing profile and comparison with other FSH preparations

The new international standard for FSH, IS 83/575, has been analyzed, after isoelectric focusing separation, by Sertoli cell in vitro bioassay, radioligand receptor assay and two highly specific immunometric assays. Its molecular composition was then compared with the isoelectric focusing profiles obtained from the fractionation of the reference preparation 2nd IRP 78/549 and from pools of human male and female pituitary extracts and male and female sera. The results showed that >80% of immunoreactive and bioactive FSH in the IS 83/575 has a pI value <4, while such very acidic material was represented much less in the other FSH preparations tested. All the immunoreactive material contained in the IS 83/575 was shown to be capable of receptor binding and bioactivity in vitro. A generally good correspondence between IEF profiles obtained by bioassay and by immunofluorimetric assay was evident in the case of IS 83/575, 2nd IRP 78/549 and pituitary extracts, although the profiles recorded by immunofluorimetric assay were rather smooth and more isoforms were detected by bioassay. A striking discrepancy between immunoreactive FSH and bioactive FSH was observed after isoelectric focusing fractionation of the serum pools, in which some bioactive material was not detected by immunofluorimetric assay and some of the immunoreactive FSH peaks were devoid of bioactivity, indicating that serum contains inhibitors of FSH action and that immunometric assays based on monoclonal antibodies may miss some bioactive FSH isoforms. Taken together, these results suggest that the IS 83/575 is not fully representative of pituitary and serum FSH, and its use for calibration of modern immunometric methods based on monoclonal antibodies is unlikely to resolve current problems of inaccuracy in measurements of serum FSH.

Development of a radioligand receptor assay for measuring follitropin in serum: application to premature ovarian failure

We have developed a radioligand receptor assay (RRA) with sufficient sensitivity and specificity for quantifying follitropin (FSH) in unextracted serum samples. Standard curves prepared by adding pituitary FSH to either buffer or gonadotropin-free serum were parallel and statistically indistinguishable in this assay, whereas gonadotropin-free serum alone had no activity. Cross-reactivity with related pituitary hormones was negligible. Pituitary FSH was calibrated with commonly used reference preparations so that RRA results could be compared with RIA results for identical standards. The patterns in daily blood samples in six normal menstrual cycles were similar by both methods. The mean RIA:RIA ratio in both the follicular and luteal phases was between 0.6 and 0.7, and at mid-cycle decreased to 0.48, suggesting an alteration of isohormone composition at mid-cycle. In 27 women with premature ovarian failure, RRA:RIA ratios ranged from below the RRA minimum detectable dose to 4.6, suggesting that immunoreactive FSH might not be capable of binding to the FSH receptor in some patients, whereas in patients with high RRA:RIA ratios, circulating inhibitors of FSH receptor binding might be present and perhaps contributing to the observed ovarian failure. Use of this RRA in conjunction with RIA and in vitro bioassays may better define the relative contribution of FSH isohormones, autocrine or paracrine modulators of FSH bioactivity, and FSH-receptor binding competitors to the "total FSH biological signal" as detected by the gonadal FSH receptor.