MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES AND IMMUNOASSAYS FOR CANNABINOIDS

AS THE USE OF MARIHUANA HAS CONTINUED TO GROW, THE NEED FOR ACCURATE AND RELIABLE MEANS OF MEASURING CANNABINOID LEVELS HAS BECOME MORE URGENT. THIS PHASE I APPLICATION OUTLINES OUR INTEREST IN DEVELOPING SUCH A CANNABINOID ASSAY WHICH WILL BE RAPID, NON-ISOTOPIC, AND CAPABLE OF BEING PERFORMED IN A "FIELD" SETTING. OUR SPECIFIC GOALS FOR PHASE I WILL BE TO GENERATE MURINE MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES TO THC, AND TO BEGIN WORK ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SENSITIVE AND VERSATILE THC FLUORESCENCE IMMUNOASSAY WHICH WILL BE FASTER, EASIER AND AT LEAST AS SENSITIVE AS CURRENT RADIOIMMUNOASSAYS, (DETECTS 10 NG/ML THC). MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES WILL BE PREPARED AGAINST 2 DIFFERENT IMMUNOGENS. WE WILL FIRST USE A 5'-CARBOXY 9-THC-BSA CONJUGATE WHICH HAS BEEN GENEROUSLY OFFERED TO US BY NIDA. SUBSEQUENTLY, WE WILL ALSO USE A CONJUGATE WHICH WE PLAN TO PREPARE VIACARBOXYMETHYLATION AND CARBODIMIDE COUPLING OF THE PHENOLIC HYDROXYL OF 9-THC. APPROXIMATELY CHARACTERIZED ANTIBODIES WILL BE ATTACHED TO B-GAACTOSIDASE AND UTILIZED IN A RAPID SOLID-PHASE ENZYME IMMUNOASSAY USING FLUOROGENIC SUBSTRATES. SUCH AN ASSAY SYSTEM WHEN FULLY DEVELOPED, WILL HAVE A SIGNIFICANT COMMERCIAL MARKET, AND WILL BE USEFUL FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES, THE MILITARY, AND OTHER ASPECTS OF NIDA'S OVERALL RESEARCH PROGRAM.