Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Protocol
  • Published:

Labeling of biotin antibodies with horseradish peroxidase using cyanuric chloride

Abstract

In this report, we describe a two-step protocol for labeling of an affinity-purified antibody to biotin with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) using cyanuric chloride (CC) as a bridge. The enzyme was first modified with CC, and following chromatography on a PD-10 column, the activated HRP was incubated with the antibody to effect coupling of the two proteins. Assessment of the conjugate product was carried out using ELISA and SDS-PAGE electrophoresis where evidence for high antibody activity, high specific activity of the conjugate preparation, coupling of nearly all the antibody and over 90% of the enzyme was shown. The titer of the conjugate exceeded 1/100,000. High molecular weight complexes were observed in the SDS-PAGE results, indicating an efficient conjugation procedure. The presence of high molecular weight complexes indicated an efficient conjugation procedure. The protocol is simple, and the conjugation steps can be completed in 27 h once the preparatory phase has been carried out; the method is entirely generic and may be applied to labeling of any antibody.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Conjugation steps according to the CC protocol.
Figure 2: Conjugation steps according to the sodium periodate methods.
Figure 3: A flowchart of the conjugation procedure.
Figure 4: Antibody–HRP conjugate dilution response graph.
Figure 5: An image of a Coomassie-stained nonreducing SDS-PAGE gel of a conjugate sample.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Avrameas, S. Immunoenzymic techniques for biomedical analysis. Methods Enzymol. 44, 709–717 (1976).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. O'Sullivan, M.J., Bridges, J.W. & Marks, V. Enzyme immunoassay: a review. Ann. Clin. Biochem. 16, 221–240 (1979).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Farr, A.G. & Nakane, P.K. Immunohistochemistry with enzyme labeled antibodies: a brief review. J. Immunol. Methods 47, 129–144 (1981).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Nakane, P.K. Recent progress in the peroxidase-labeled antibody method. Ann. N Y Acad. Sci. 254, 203–211 (1975).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. King, T.P. & Kochoumian, L. A comparison of different enzyme–antibody conjugates for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. J. Immunol. Methods 28, 201–210 (1979).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. O'Sullivan, M.J. et al. A comparison of the ability of beta-galactosidase and horseradish peroxidase enzyme–antibody conjugates to detect specific antibodies. J. Immunol. Methods 31, 247–250 (1979).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Beyzavi, K. et al. Comparison of horseradish peroxidase and alkaline phosphatase-labelled antibodies in enzyme immunoassays. Ann. Clin. Biochem. 24, 145–152 (1987).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Hosoda, H., Takasaki, W., Tsukamoto, R. & Nambara, T. Sensitivity of steroid enzyme immunoassays. Comparison of alkaline phosphatase, beta-galactosidase and horseradish peroxidase as labels in a colorimetric assay system. Chem. Pharm. Bull (Tokyo) 35, 3336–3342 (1987).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Welinder, K.G. Covalent structure of glycoprotein horseradish-peroxidase (Ec1.11.1.7). FEBS Lett. 72, 19–23 (1976).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Welinder, K.G. Amino acid sequence studies of horseradish peroxidase. Amino and carboxy termini, cyanogen bromide and tryptic fragments, the complete sequence, and some structural characteristics of horseradish peroxidase C. Eur. J. Biochem. 96, 483–502 (1979).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Yang, B.Y., Gray, S.S.J. & Rex, M. The glycans of horseradish peroxidase. Carbohydrate Res. 287, 203–212 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Azevedo, A.M. et al. Horseradish peroxidase: a valuable tool in biotechnology. Biotechnol. Ann. Rev. 9, 199–247 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Veitch, N.C. Molecules of interest: horseradish peroxidase—a modern view of a classic enzyme. Phytochemistry 65, 249–259 (2004).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Ryan, B.J., Carolan, N. & Ó'Fágáin, C. Horseradish and soybean peroxidases: comparable tools for alternative niches? Trends Biotechnol. 24, 355–363 (2006).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Porstmann, B., Porstmann, T. & Nugel, E. Comparison of chromogens for the determination of horseradish peroxidase as a marker in enzyme immunoassay. J. Clin. Chem. Clin. Biochem. 19, 435–439 (1981).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Al-Kaissi, E. & Mostratos, A. Assessment of substrates for horseradish peroxidase in enzyme immunoassay. J. Immunol. Methods 58, 127–132 (1983).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Hosoda, H., Takasaki, W., Oe, T., Tsukamoto, R. & Nambara, T. A comparison of chromogenic substrates for horseradish peroxidase as a label in steroid enzyme immunoassay. Chem. Pharm. Bull (Tokyo) 104, 177–182 (1986).

    Google Scholar 

  18. Conyers, S.M. & Kidwell, D.A. Chromogenic substrates for horseradish peroxidase. Anal. Biochem. 192, 207–211 (1991).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Cattaneo, M.V. & Luong, J.H. A stable water-soluble tetramethylbenzidine-2-hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin inclusion complex and its applications in enzyme assays. Anal. Biochem. 223, 313–320 (1994).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Dotsikas, Y. & Loukas, Y.L. Employment of 4-(1-imidazolyl)phenol as a luminol signal enhancer in a competitive-type chemiluminescence immunoassay and its comparison with the conventional antigen–horseradish peroxidase conjugate-based assay. Anal. Chim. Acta. 509, 103–109 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Nakane, P.K. & Pierce, G.B. Enzyme labeled antibodies: preparation and application for the localization of antigens. J. Histochem. Cytochem. 14, 929 (1966).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Abuknesha, R.A., Luk, C., Griffith, H.T., Maragkou, A. & Iakovaki, D. Efficient labelling of antibodies with horseradish peroxidase using cyanuric chloride. J. Immunol. Methods 306, 211–217 (2005).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Nakane, P.K. & Kawaoi, A. Peroxidase-labeled antibody: a new method of conjugation. J. Histochem. Cytochem. 22, 1084–1091 (1974).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Nygren, H. & Hansson, H.A. Conjugation of horseradish peroxidase to staphylococcal protein A with benzoquinone, glutaraldehyde, or periodate as cross-linking reagents. J. Histochem. Cytochem. 29, 266–270 (1981).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Tijssen, P. & Kurstak, E. Highly efficient and simple methods for the preparation of peroxidase and active peroxidase–antibody conjugates for enzyme immunoassays. Anal. Biochem. 136, 451–457 (1984).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Tsang, V.C., Greene, R.M. & Pilcher, J.B. Optimization of the covalent conjugating procedure (NaIO4) of horseradish peroxidase to antibodies for use in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. J. Immunoassay. 16, 395–418 (1995).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Wisdom, G.B. Conjugation of antibodies to horseradish peroxidase. Methods Mol. Biol. 295, 127–130 (2005).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Nygren, H., Hansson, H.A. & Lange, S. Studies on the conjugation of horseradish peroxidase to immunoglobulin G via glutaraldehyde. Med. Biol. 57, 187–191 (1979).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Basu, A., Shrivastav, T.G. & Kariya, K.K. Preparation of enzyme conjugate through adipic acid dihydrazide as linker and its use in immunoassays. Clin. Chem. 49, 1410–1412 (2003).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Shrivastav, T.G. Preparation of horseradish peroxidase hydrazide and its use in immunoassay. J. Immunoassay Immunochem. 24, 301–309 (2003).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Shrivastav, T.G. Carbodiimide or periodate method to prepare peroxidase hydrazide for its use in immunoassay. J. Immunoassay Immunochem. 25, 295–304 (2004).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Yoshitake, S. et al. Mild and efficient conjugation of rabbit Fab' and horseradish peroxidase using a maleimide compound and its use for enzyme immunoassay. J. Biochem. (Tokyo) 92, 413–424 (1982).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Hashida, S., Imagawa, M., Inoue, S., Ruan, K. & Ishikawa, E. More useful maleimide compounds for the conjugation of Fab' to horseradish peroxidase through thiol groups in the hinge. J. Appl. Biochem. 6, 56 (1984).

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Nilsson, P., Bergquist, N.R. & Grundy, M.S. A technique for preparing defined conjugates of horseradish peroxidase and immunoglobulin. J. Immunol. Methods 41, 81–93 (1981).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Nygren, H. Conjugation of horseradish peroxidase to Fab fragments with different homobifunctional and heterobifunctional cross-linking reagents. A comparative study. J. Histochem. Cytochem. 30, 407–412 (1982).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Harlow, E. & Lane, D. Appendix II Protein Techniques. In Using antibodies: A Laboratory Manual (eds. Harlow, E. & Lane, D.) 673 (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, New York, 1988).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ramadan A Abuknesha.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Abuknesha, R., Jeganathan, F., Wu, J. et al. Labeling of biotin antibodies with horseradish peroxidase using cyanuric chloride. Nat Protoc 4, 452–460 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2009.6

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2009.6

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing