A novel chemistry for conjugating pneumococcal polysaccharides to Luminex microspheres.

Here we describe a novel method to conjugate pneumococcal polysaccharides (PnPS) to Luminex microspheres for use in serological assays. 4-(4,6-dimethoxy[1,3,5]triazin-2-yl)-4-methyl-morpholinium (DMTMM) modification of PnPS and conjugation to carboxyl functional groups on Luminex microspheres (COOH-DMTMM method) was shown to be a reproducible chemistry that efficiently conjugated PnPS to Luminex microspheres without affecting the antigenicity of a broad set of PnPS. The COOH-DMTMM method was compared to three other methods for robustness, reproducibility and effect on PnPS antigenicity in a multiplexed assay format. The other methods examined included adsorption of the unmodified PnPS to Luminex microspheres, oxidation of the PnPS to conjugate them to amino-modified microspheres using carbodiimide chemistry and poly-l-lysine modification of the PnPS before conjugating to carboxy Luminex microspheres using carbodiimide chemistry. Of the four methods, the COOH-DMTMM chemistry was shown to be a robust methodology, producing stable PnPS coupled microspheres with a 4-log dynamic range and low cross-reactivity when used in a PnPS-specific IgG serology assay. This novel chemistry should be useful for developing serological assays to measure antibodies to polysaccharides for use in vaccine and epidemiology studies.

Optimization and validation of a multiplexed luminex assay to quantify antibodies to neutralizing epitopes on human papillomaviruses 6, 11, 16, and 18.

A human papillomavirus (HPV) multiplexed competitive Luminex immunoassay first described by Opalka et al. (D. Opalka, C. E. Lachman, S. A. MacMullen, K. U. Jansen, J. F. Smith, N. Chirmule, and M. T. Esser, Clin. Diagn. Lab. Immunol. 10:108--15, 2003) was optimized and validated for use in epidemiology studies and vaccine clinical trials. Optimization increased both the analytical sensitivity and the clinical specificity of the assay to more effectively discriminate the low-titer antibody response of HPV-infected persons from noninfected individuals. The characteristics of the assay that were optimized included monoclonal antibody (MAb) specificity, scaling up the conjugation of virus-like particles (VLPs) to microspheres, VLP concentration, MAb concentration, sample matrix, sample dilution, incubation time, heat inactivation of sample sera, and detergent effects on assay buffer. The assay was automated by use of a TECAN Genesis Workstation, thus improving assay throughput, reproducibility, and operator safety. Following optimization, the assay was validated using several distinct serum panels from individuals determined to be at low and high risk for HPV infection. The validated assay was then used to determine the clinical serostatus cutoff. This high-throughput assay has proven useful for performing epidemiology studies and evaluating the efficacy of prophylactic HPV vaccines.

Method for simultaneous measurement of antibodies to 23 pneumococcal capsular polysaccharides.

We describe a fluorescent covalent microsphere immunoassay (FCMIA) method for the simultaneous (multiplexed) measurement of immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies to 23 pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide (PnPS) serotypes present in the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV23) licensed by the Food and Drug Administration, i.e., PnPSs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6B, 7F, 8, 9N, 9V, 10A, 11A, 12F, 14, 15B, 17F, 18C, 19A, 19F, 20, 22F, 23F, and 33F. In addition, the assay incorporates an internal control that allows for contemporaneous evaluation of the effectiveness of pneumococcal cell wall polysaccharide (C-PS) preadsorption and a second control of PnPS 25 (which is not present in any polysaccharide or conjugate vaccine), which can be used to evaluate interassay reproducibility (useful for pre- versus postvaccination studies). The FCMIA was standardized with U.S. reference antipneumococcal serotype standard serum 89S-2. Preadsorption of 89S-2 with each PnPS and C-PS yielded homologous inhibition for serotypes 1, 6B, 9N, 9V, 11A, 12F,14, 15B, 18C, 19A, 19F, 20, 22F, 25, and 33F; heterologous inhibition for serotypes 9V, 10A, 11A, 12F, 15B, 17F, 20, and 23F; and neither homologous nor heterologous inhibition for serotypes 2, 3, 4, and 5. The minimum detectable concentrations for the 24 multiplexed (PnPS and C-PS) FCMIAs ranged from 20 pg/ml for PnPS 3 to 600 pg/ml for PnPS 14. The PnPS FCMIA method has numerous benefits over enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays commonly used to measure anti-PnPS-specific IgG levels, including increased speed, smaller sample volumes, equivalent or better sensitivity, and increased dynamic range.