A specific radioimmunoassay for evaluation of serum antibodies to zona pellucida antigens

A radioimmunoassay procedure has been developed for detecting antibodies to porcine zonae pellucidae antigens using Staphylococcus aureus Protein A cells (Pansorbin) as the immunoadsorbent. This method offers a rapid and reproducible procedure for detecting specific antibodies to zona antigens. The zona antigens detected by antibodies in this assay were found not to cross-react with antigens in 11 other tissues. Immune serum produced against a variety of other antigens, including protein hormones, steroid hormones, porcine serum and red blood cells, did not bind to any zonae components in this assay. This assay is compared with other methods which have been used to detect antibodies to zona antigens and has been found to be more specific than immunofluorescence methods and more sensitive than either immunofluorescence or immunoelectrophoresis methods.