A quantitative immunoassay using chicken antibodies for detection of native and recombinant alpha-amidating enzyme.

A sensitive competitive ELISA has been developed for the detection and quantitation of native and recombinant alpha-amidating enzyme. Chickens immunized with purified enzyme (75 kDa) isolated from a rat medullary thyroid carcinoma, produced IgY antibodies specific for the native enzyme. The assay is defined by a standard curve with a linear range of 0.78-12.5 ng/ml in phosphate-buffered saline, and a limit of sensitivity for detection of the enzyme of 0.20 ng/ml. The immunoassay is capable of detecting enzyme from both tumor derived sources, and from cells genetically engineered to secrete the enzyme into tissue culture medium containing up to 10% fetal calf serum.