GB1571466A

GB1571466A - Assay mehtod

Info

Publication number: GB1571466A
Application number: GB1701277A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: University of California
Current assignee: University of California
Priority date: 1976-12-14
Filing date: 1977-04-25
Publication date: 1980-07-16
Also published as: FR2374643B1; FR2374643A1; DE2722391A1; CA1094477A; JPS5374492A

Description

(54) ASSAY METHOD (71) We, THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, a Corporation organised and existing under the laws of the State of California of 2200 University Avenue, Berkeley, State of California 94720, United States of America do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: The present invention relates to biochemical diagnostic and assay methods and more specifically to the determination of very small quantities of chemical species involved in life processes, e.g., enzymes and enzyme substrates, antigens and antibodies, etc. This invention specifically relates to those analytical methods in which a chemical species to be determined, generally a bio-material. is coupled through intermediate reactions or reacts directly in an electromagnetic signal-generating system in which the species, or its progeny in the case of intermediate reactions, is converted into an end product with the concomitant release of electromagnetic radiation.

Life processes involve a staggering variety of bio-chemical reactions, all interrelated, and occurring either simultaneously, or in carefully regulated sequences. Many processes that may involve relatively massive amounts of materials, e.g. metabolic processes, may, in turn, be regulated by minute amounts of bio-materials, e.g. enzymes or hormones. In other instances, malfunctions and/or diseases of the organism may release extremely small amounts of bio-materials from their normal environments into other systems of the organism. The detection and quantification and in abnormal environments can yield a great amount of information concerning the functioning of both major and minor systems in the organism, and can indicate system malfunction and/or disease, as well as invasion by foreign bodies such as bacteria or viruses. Such a bio-material is thus generally defined as any chemical compound found in living organisms.

In recent decades, various techniques have been developed for determining very small quantities of bio-materials. These techniques may utilize, for instance, radioactive tracer techniques. fluorometric techniques, coloured dye development, bioluminescence, chemiluminescence. etc. Such techniques depend on inherent characteristics of the materials of interest that give rise to signals that can be detected on suitable instrumentation; or by combining or associating materials that generate, or can be induced to generate such signals. with the molecular species of interest.

The particular analytical technique to which this invention specifically relates involves electromagnetic radiation generating reactions, more particularly those electromagnetic radiation generating systems in which light is produced either by the reaction of a bio-material with a protein or by the enzyme-potentiated reaction of the material with a second chemical species. Such systems derived from living systems and which involve proteins, including enzymes. are defined herein as bioluminescent reactions. They have been extensively discussed in the literature. For example, see Johnson et al in Photophysiology Viol. 7. pages 275-334 (1972). The sources of reagents for such reactions as well as purification techniques for the reagents are well known. By "electromagnetic radiation generating" is meant chemical systems which emit electromagnetic radiation upon the reaction of the system components with one another, whether or not the reaction requires a catalyst. whereby at least one product is yielded which was not a component of the unreacted system.

The electromagnetic radiation produced by bioluminescent reaction systems is directly proportional to the amount of the reaction limiting component available for entering into the reaction. By way of illustration, light is produced when the enzyme, luciferase, acts to oxidise the substrate, fire-fly luciferin, in the presence of co-factor, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and oxygen. The reaction may be summarized:

luciferase Luciferin + ATP + O2 # oxidized Luciferin + AMP + H2O + P-P + LIGHT + CO2 where AMP is adenosine monophosphate, and P-P is diphosphate. The oxidation of each luciferin molecule yields a specific quantity of light, with the total light yield being directly proportional to the number of molecules oxidized. Thus, a measurement of the light yield indicates the number of luciferin, A'l'l', or oxygen molecules entering into the reaction, depending upon which of the three components is in molar excess, or the activity of the catalyst, luciferase.

If ATP is the least abundant species then the reaction will cease when all the ATP is used up: or, if oxygen is the least abundant, then when all the oxygen is used up. By the same token, the activity of the luciferase can be ascertained if its activity is the limiting factor in the reaction process. The most accurate and complete results are obtained by ensuring a molar excess of all the components of the bioluminescent system other than the one of unknown concentration or activity to which the assay is directed.

Similar considerations apply in the use of the bacterial luciferase system for analysis of chemical species, e.g. bio-materials. Here, bacterial luciferase catalyzes the oxidation of reduced flavin mononucleotide with oxygen in the presence of a long carbon chain aldehyde to yield light, among other products. This system is typically employed to determine reduced flavin mononucleotide. The reduced flavin mononucleotide may be the product of a reaction or series of reactions in which the reduced flavin mononucleotide is eventually produced in a quantity that is directly proportional to a chemical species reacted at the first of the series. For example, dehydrogenases such as flavin mononucleotide oxidoreductase will oxidize the reduced form of nicotine adenine dinucleotide, which in turn may be produced by other dehydrogenases, to reduced flavin mononucleotide. The product reduced flavin mononucleotide is then employed as the limiting component in the bacterial lucifr'rase system. I'he light so generated is a measure of the original reduced nicotine adenine dinucleotide. A multiplicity of reactions of this nature may be coupled together to yield a product which is determinable by a bioluminescent reaction. As a consequence, any chemical species which can be reacted to eventually yield a stoichiometrically equivalent quantity of A'l'l' or reduced flavin mononucleotide may be assayed, respectively, by the fire-flv and bacterial luciferase systems. The prior art has employed the foregoing bioluminescent reactions in qualitative or quantitative coupled and direct assays. For example, see Hammerstedt, "Analytical Biochemistry" 52 :449-455 (1973); Brolin et al., "Analytical Biochemistry" 39: : 441-453(1971); and Mansberg, U.S. Patent No. 3,679,312.

In those cases whcre these assays have heretofore been conducted in a liquid environment all of the reagents were in solution and thus distributed homogeneously throughout.

When ass'lying for very low quantities of chemical species, or very low activities of enzymes. the quintity of electromagnetic radiation generated by processes such as noted above. is correspondingly small. In addition, since the reations have heretofore been carried out in solution. the radiation emitting components are dilute and the radiation is emitted throughout a volume whereby the radiation intensity is lower than if high concentrations of reagents could he employed. This adversely affects the assay sensitivity.

In addition. the larger and more opaque the volume of liquids, the greater is the possibility of self-absorption of the emitted radiation before it can leave the solution and be detected by suitable instrumentation. Finally, prior techniques measure the radiation as light emitted from a transparent container. However. irregularities in the container wall will scatter the light unpredictablv. thus introducing variation into the assay.

Another detriment of conducting electromagnetic radiation assays in solution is the loss of costly reactants such as. for instance, enzymes and co-enzymes. Generally, there is no simple means of recovering such materials from solution, and they must, therefore, be discarded and replaced by new reactants for each successive assay.

In order to conserve costly enzyme materials and recover them for subsequent use, it has become well known in the art to immobilize various enzymes to insoluble support members or to one another so that the material is not lost or leached into solution during the reaction processes. See, for instance, U.S. Patent Nos. 3,925,950 to Royer; 3,959,079 to Mareschi et al; 3,542,662 to Hicks et al, all of which describe various means and materials for attaching enzymes to support materials. H.H. Weetall has reviewed the chemistry of enzyme immobilization in "Analytical Chemistry," Volume 46, pages 602A et. seq., (1974) and the applications of immobilized enzymes has been discussed in "Analytical Chemistry," Volume 48, pages 544A et. seq. (1976). The prior art has, however, not disclosed immobilizing bioluminescent proteins such as the luciferases so that they can be recovered from the test solution and used over. Similarly, it is heretofore unknown to immobilize flavin mononucleotide oxidoreductase.

We have now discovered an analytical method which allows small quantities of chemical species to be determined by detection of electromagnetic radiation generated by a reaction system, whereby the radiation emission is concentrated, suffers less from the effects of self absorption by the reaction medium and from the effects of distortion by the walls of the container, and which allows costly materials to be recovered for re-use. These advantages are achieved in a method in which the chemical species is assayed by detection of electromagnetic radiation emitted by a reaction system at least one component of which is immobilized within a localized region of the reaction environment.

Accordinglv one aspect of the invention provides a method of assaying a chemical species, in which method the electromagnetic radiation generated by a chemical or bio-chemical system is detected as a measure of said species, and in which at least one component essential to the electromagnetic radiation generating system is immobilized within a localized region of the reaction environment. The species to be assayed may take part itself in the electromagnetic radiation generating system or may take part in a reaction or in one of a series of reactions by which electromagnetic radiation is not generated, but by which a product capable of taking part in an electromagnetic radiation generating system is ultimately produced.

A further aspect of the invention provides a product for use in the assay of a chemical or biochemical species which comprises an oxidoreductase enzyme and a bacterial luciferase enzyme immobilized on an inert solid support.

The component of the electromagnetic radiation generating system is generally immobilized on a support which is insoluble in the reaction environment, ordinarily liquid solutions, and particularly aqueous solutions. However, the component may be treated to render it insoluble without the use of a support, for example, by polymerizing the component. It is preferred to bond the component to the support in such a fashion that the component will only leach into solution in insignificant quantity. This is highly important in ensuring the reliabilitv of the assays when using an immobilized component over a multiplicity of tests since otherwise the net activity of the component in the test will decrease steadily over use. and the results so obtained will change unless standards are prepared with impractical frequency. Of course, this loss in activity would also lower the sensitivity of the assay. Hence, it is preferred to covalently bond the component to the support.

In the case of the hacterial luciferase system. for example. FMN can be insolubilized upon a support according to the method of Waters et al; "Biochem. Biophys. Research Comm." 57 (4): 1152-1158 (1974). We have found that such insoluble FMN can be reduced by FMN oxidoreductase acting upon reduced pyridine nucleotide. The insolubilized, reduced UNION will in turn participate in the ordinary soluble bacterial luciferase system.

However. just ns in the case of insolubilized luciferase. light is released only at the site of the insolubilized reduced FMN. In sum, the localized, concentrated release of light which forms the basis of this invention is best obtained by covalently bonding one or more of the electromagnetic radiation generating system components to an insoluble suppoet.

The means of attachment to the support may be any one of a number of known methods that have been used to immobilize enzymes and similar bio-materials. It is only necessary that the attachment procedure does not impair the functionality of the immobilized component. It is also advantageous to have as much as possible of the component concentrated on the surface of the support material so that, (1) it will be readily accessible to the other reaction components, and (2) the emitted radiation will not be masked or absorbed by the support material. Radiation transparent support materials, such as glass, are particularly suitable and are preferred for use in the invention procedures.

The support material is most conveniently in the form of rods. strips or similar shapes that may he immersed into reaction solutions. and easily handled, cleaned, and stored for subsequent use and re-use.

It is most usual in the case of bioluminescent systems to immobilize enzymes. since they are susceptible to multiple reuse and are, most generally, the costliest component of the bioluminescent systems. Enzymes may be immobilized and insolubilized by suitable well-known techniques. An extensive review of such techniques as well as support materials is set forth in "Methods in Enzymology", Academic Press, 1974.

The support may be selected from a large number of materials. The basic properties of the support are. (1) an ability to immobilize or "fix" a component of the electromagnetic radiation generating system by either physical or chemical bonding means without (2) interfering with the activity of the "fixed" component. The support should also (3) be capable of immobilizing or concentrating a relatively large amount of the component over as limited a surface or volume as possible. Thus, it should have a high surface concentration of binding sites. Also, it is desirable to use porous or convoluted surfaces.

A great number of materials are suitable, among which are synthetic organic polymers such as acrylics, polyacrylamides, polyacrylic acids, methacrylates, styrenes and nylons; carbohydrate polymers such as "Sephadex", "Sepharose", agarose and derivatives ("Sephadex" and "Sepharose" are registered Trade Marks); all types of cellulosics, including cellulose products and their derivatives; and miscellaneous materials such as silicas, insoluble proteins, clays, resins and starches. However, the preferred materials are those materials that are optically transparent and interfere to a minimum extent with the transmission of the electromagnetic radiation generated from the immobilized components "fixed"upon their surface. Porous glasses, especially those of the arylamine or alkylamine types available from Corning Glass, Biological Products Div., are highly suitable for use as support material. Such porous glasses react with the enzymes that comprise bioluminescent systems to provide strong, non-leaching covalent bonds; they are inert and stable over extended periods of use; and they are transparent to the emitted radiation.

The porous glasses are available in the form of fine loose beads. For the purpose of the invention, it is desirable to immobilize the component onto rods or sticks in order to concentrate and localize the emitted radiation to the greatest extent possible. The immobilization of the component in rod form also facilitates insertion of the immobilized component into standard cuvets.

In an embodiment of the invention, an optical fiber bundle is used as the support. Such fibres, known also as "light pipes", are readily available commercially. The electromagnetic radiation generating component is immobilized onto a light receiving and conducting surface of the fiber or fiber bundle. This permits a simple immersion of the fiber surface into the test sample and detection of generated radiation by conducting the radiation through the fiber to a radiation detecting element at some location distant from the test sample. Thus, the detection of radiation is not affected by sample opacity or irregularities in the sample container.

Chemical species not directly involved in the radiation producing reaction may also be assayed through reaction coupling techniques as described above wherein the product of one reaction is utilized as a reactant in a subsequent reaction. A final reaction product is utilized as an essential and limiting reactant in the radiation producing reaction to determine and control the amount and intensity of radiation emitted from the final reaction. The concentration or activity of the original species can then be calculated from the radiation emitted in the final reaction.

If the immobilized radiation generating component is subject to chemical reversibility to its form prior to radiation generation or if it undergoes no net change in structure during the radiation emitting reaction as is. respectively, the usual case with coenzymes and enzymes. repeated use is possible. Thus, the costly component is conserved and repetitive assays expedited.

The concentration and localization techniques can be applied to various types of electromagnetic radiation generating systems. Bioluminescent systems such as the firefly luciferin-luciferase-ATP reaction or the bacterial luciferase reaction involving flavin coenzymes are particularly adaptable to the present techniques. The bacterial luciferase system is additionally valuable in that it is readily coupled to oxidoreductase reactions, especially those utilizing nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), and/or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP+), which are involved in a great number of bio-systems. The fire-fly luciferin-luciferase reaction is also especially valuable since it is readily coupled to the ATP coenzyme producing systems that are broadly involved in bio-energy transfer systems.

Similarly, chemiluminescent systems may be readily employed in the method of this invention. For example, luminol can be entrapped within or covalently bound to an insoluble matrix and then used in a conventional assay for oxidizing agents such as hydrogen peroxide. Again, the emitted light is generated in the same reaction that is used to detect and indicate the chemical species being tested for, and the light is generated in a highly concentrated form at a localized point with the reaction environment.

The basic principles of the invention may be better understood by considering the following specific detection system: A number of bacterial species. e.g., Photobacterium fischeri, Photobacterium phos phoreum, and Beneckea harveyi, are known to generate visible light. It has been determined that this light generation involves the specific reaction of the bacterial enzyme, luciferase. with a co-factor. flavin mononucleotide (commonly abbreviated, FMN) to produce light.

More specifically, the light producing reaction occurs when luciferase catalyses the oxidation of the reduced form of co-factor, flavin mononucleotide, FMNH2, to the oxidized form, FMN, in the presence of a long chain aldehyde substrate and oxygen. The reaction may be written:

bacterial luciferase RCHO + 2FMNH@ @ 20@ 2 FMN + RCOOH + H2O@ @ H2O + LIGHT where RCHO may be any long chain aldehyde having from about 8-14 carbon atoms.

Decanal, tridecanal, dodecanal and undecanal are examples of suitable aldehydes for the substrate.

The light emitted in the reaction is directly proportional to the number of molecules undergoing reaction. Measurement of the emitted light, therefore, indicates the least abundant molecular species present as the substrate or cofactor; or should the luciferase be the reaction limiting factor, then the light emitted is an indication of the enzyme's activity.

The bacterial luciferase is immobilized on arylamine porous glass beads. The beads have been previously glued on a thin glass rod. Any suitable glue material is used to tightly adhere the beads to the rod. A standard epoxy glue is useful for this purpose. The luciferase is coupled to the porous glass beads utilizing a diazotization procedure like that disclosed in the publication "Methods in Enzymology", the Academic Press, New York, pages 59-72.

Briefly, the high silica porous glasses contain nitro-aryl groups formed by the amide coupling of nitrobenzoyl chloride thereto. The nitro-aryl groups are then reduced to amino-aryl groups by either sodium dithionite or LiAlH2. The amino-aryl groups are activated by diazotization to provide coupling sites for the luciferase. The luciferase in a buffered aqueous solution (pH7) is then placed into contact with the beaded rods for 16 hours to effect coupling of the enzyme to the porous glass. The excess, uncoupled enzyme is then washed from the rods and the rods are stored in buffer solution at reduced temperature (4 C) for subsequent use. If carefully handled, and thoroughly rinsed after each use, the rods with the immobilized luciferase may be reused an indefinite number of times without significantly affecting the enzyme activity.

The same immobilization technique may be employed for other bioluminescent enzymes, and proteins.

In order to conduct an assay, the rod with immobilized luciferase is dipped into a solution containing all the other components or reactants necessary to produce the radiation generating reaction except for the species being assayed. The species is provided, if at all, by the test sample. Since at least one of the essential components is immobilized on the support, the radiation generating reaction takes place directly on the support surface. It is, therefore, only necessary to enclose the reaction mixture and immersed rod within the confines of a photometer sample chamber while the radiation generating reaction takes places. All of the soluble components can be combined, the sample chamber closed and the rod immersed, whereupon a flash occurs. Alternatively, it is preferred to immerse the rod in a solution which is complete but for one or more reagents, or sample, followed by closing the sample chamber. Addition of the missing reagent or the sample will then produce a flash. Suitable electronic circuitry may then be utilized to measure the peak or total radiation emitted from the reaction. The radiation intensity or total radiation emitted measures the quantity of the least abundant molecular species necessary for the radiation emitting reaction: or alternately. the activity in the case of enzymes or other catalytic materials.

The radiation which is emitted by the test system of this invention may be determined by the Aminco Chem-Glo Photometer. This highly accurate and sensitive instrument is conveniently employed with the method and article of this invention. The instrument is equipped with a reaction chamber that holds cuvets for the reaction: as well as ports for the injection of various components while the sample is contained in the instrument.

Suitable apparatus is also commercially available for recording the radiation output detected by the photometer.

Turning to the fire-flv luciferase reaction discussed above, fire-fly luciferase requires ATP for the light emitting reaction. ATP, in turn, is a universal energy source in a vast number of bio-reactions, and its presence. or absence, in such systems is a unique measure of many bio-reaction reactants and products.

Tvpical ATP producing systems are. by way of illustration; sugar synthesis systems wherein phosphoenol pvruvate in the presence of co-factor adenosine diphosphate and the enzyme pyruvate kinase yields pyruvate and adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Other systems are muscle contraction systems, wherein creatine phosphate is converted into creatine while its co-factor adenosine diphosphate converts to ATP in the presence of the enzyme, creatine phospho-kinase. ATP assays can also, for instance, be useful in determining bacterial content in urine, waste products, wine, beer, milk, and, in general, biomass measurements. Hence, the measurement of ATP in any bio-system can be utilized as a measure of ATP co-factors, substrates, and related enzymes.

It has been noted before that ATP is a co-enzyme in the light producing luciferinluciferase reaction. As a consequence, the light generated from a luciferin-luciferase reaction will assay ATP quantitatively wherein the ATP is the limiting component in the reaction and qualitatively, otherwise. An assay of ATP, in turn may be used to calculate the abundance of chemical species which yield or metabolize ATP.

In a similar manner, the bacterial luciferase reaction may be coupled back to a vast number of bio-reactions. Consider the following coupled reactions:

(1) Bio-material to be assayed + NAD (or NADP) Enzyme NADH (or NADPH) + Product (2) NAI)II (or NADPH) + FMN NAD: FMN OXIDOREDUCTASE FMNH2 + NAD (or NADP) (3) RCHO + FMNH2 + O2 Immobilized Bacterial Luciferase FMN + RCOOH + H2O + H2O2 + LIGHT Where NAD refers to nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, NADP refers to nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate, and NADH and NADPH are the reduced forms, respectively, FMN, FMNH2, RCHO, and RCOOH have been defined hereinbefore.

Reaction (3) has been set forth before and defines the bacterial luciferase light producing reaction this is measured according to the principal method of the invention. Reaction (2) is an oxidation-reduction reaction which is catalyzed by the NAD:FMN oxidoreductase that is obtained by known methods from bioluminescent bacteria such as Beneckea harveyi. For example, the oxidoreducase is separated from the bacterial luciferase during the purification thereof by well-known chromatographic techniques. Thus, when luciferase is purified by chromatography on DEAE-"Sephadex", the reductase elutes before the luciferase and may be collected as a separet fraction. Reaction (1) is any of a large number of bio-reactions in which NAD (or NADP) are necessary co-factors. A few examples of such NAD or NADP requiring reactions are:

Alcohol + Nz,[) (or NAl)P) alcohol dchydrogenase aldehydes + NAI)P) aldehvdcs i-' NADH (or NADPH) 2.3-But;incdiol + NAI) butanediol dehydn)genase ticetoin + NADH glycerol + NAD glycerol d ehydrogenase dihvdroxvacctone + NADH xylitol + NAD (or NADP) D-xylulose reductase (L-xvlulose reductase)

glyclate + NAD glyoxylate reductase gly()xylate + NAI)H I,-laciate + NAD lactate dehydrogentise pyruvate + NADI I palate + NA!) mal tlchydrogcnase oxalaticetate + NADH l-o-Flucose + NAI) (or NA 1)1)) glucose d\chyclrogcnlre D-glUCOllC- d -lactone + NAl)l I (or NAI)I'II) andrsterone + NA ) (r NAl)l)) 3- -hydroxy\stcroitI tlchydroFcll;le anclr-osr;iic -3, 1 7-dione + NAI)II (r NAI)I'II) 2()-tlihyclrocortisonc -t NAI) rtisonereductase cortisone + NADI I ylieloxill + NAt)X) pyricl)xin ehydrogenase PYI (IOXal + NAl)Pl I Illlll nltinllit()I~~dchvdr()gentise & + rUCtOSC + NAl)l I 'ill'li' + Nay) + all() tidehvde dehydr)gentise tLlytL + + NS + ftcid+ NAl)H Many other similar NAD or NADP co-factor reactions are konwn and the above are merely illustrative.

In any event, it is clear that a great number of bio-reactions produce NAD or NADP in the reduced state. If such reactions (1) are coupled into the NAD:FMN oxidoreductase or NADP:FMN oxidoreductase reaction (2), it is apparent the FMNH2 will be produced in accordance with the quantity of NADH (or NADPH) available from reaction (1). If the FMNH2 produced by reaction (2) is thereupon introduced into reaction (3), the bacterial luciferase reaction, the light produced thereby will be proportional to the original quantity of pyridine nucleotide; and hence, to the dehydrogenase enzyme or its substrate which is to be determined.

Coupling the radiation producing reaction into precursor reactions as noted above leads to a variation of the immobilization procedures of the invention. Specifically, it is often advantageous to concentrate and immobilize two or more essential components for a series of reactions on a single support member. Such technique permits the direct coupling of reactions of the types (2) and (3) noted above.

In such ti technique. the desired FMN oxidoreductase is immobilized on the same support as the luciferase. This yields the additional advantage of this invention that the highly oxidation labile FMNH2 yielded by the NADH-FMN reaction is produced in extremely close proximity to the luciferase and thus, it is directly and immediately available to enter into the luciferase reaction. Manipulative steps are thereby reduced and losses or spurious re-oxidation of the FMNH2 by the sample components or contaminants are avoided. In such specialized uses. dehydrogenases. for example, can also be bound to the support.

The following example will illustrate a double immobilization of two enzymes on a single support.

EXAMPLE 1()-15 mgs. fine beads of activated arylamine glass were glued to 1.7 mm. diameter glass rods 4 em. long. The glass rods were first dipped into Duro E-Pox.E 5 glue and then rolled into the porous glass beads. The rods and adherent beads were allowed to dry overnight.

The luciferase and reductase enzymes (isolated frome Beneckea harveyi) were mixed in the ratio of 1 mg. luciferase to 1.5 mgs. reductase of which 0.5 ml. aqueous solution was contacted with the rods and activated beads for 16 hours. The solution was buffered at pH 7.0 with 0. 1M phosphate. The rods were then washed with 25 mls. cold 1M sodium chloride followed bv 100 mls. cold distilled water to remove any unbound enzymes. The rods were then incubated overnight in 1/c bovine serum albumin (BSA) in the phosphate buffer containing 5 x 10-4 M dithiothreitol (DTT). The rods were then stored in phosphate buffer containing the same amount of DTT at 4 C.

The bound enzymes were assayed. and TABLE I below give typical results for the binding of the enzymes to the porous glass beads and their apparent activities.

TABLE I Binding of luciferase and FMN:reductase to glass rods FMN Luciferase Reduction Coupled mgs. Protein Relative unmoles assay ml Light NADH Oxid. Relative Units/ml per ml Light per min units/ml (A) Original Mixture 7.0 x 106 0.293 4.2 x 10@ 2.56 (B) Supernatant 2 x 106 0.100 2 x 104 1.25 (C) Rods 2.5 x 10@ 0.020 1.2 x 104 1.31 % of Rods Apparent Activity 0.05% 10.3 3.0 51 (A) Enzymatic activities of a mixture of soluble luciferase-reductase prior to coupling to the beads, original mixture. (B) After the coupling procedure the mixture was again assayed. (C) The amount of activity associated with the rods was also assayed. The percent of activity as assayed on the rods was based on the initial total activity in the original mixture. Luciferase was assayed by injection of FMNH2. FMN:Reductase was assayed by disappearance of absorbance at 340 nm and the coupled assay is the light obtained upon injection of NADH.

The enzymes, both those in solution and those immobilized on the porous glass were assayed as follows: All soluble enzyme assays were performed at 23 C. Luciferase was assayed by injection of 0.1 cc FMNH2, catalytically reduced with H2 over platinized asbestos, into a solution containing luciferase, decanal and 0.1% BSA in 0.1M phosphate buffer pH 7.0. Final concenration of the reactants were: 2.3 x 10-5 M FMNH2 and 0.0005% decanal and 0.08 g luciferase per ml. Light intensity was measured in an Aminco Chem-Glo Photometer and recorded on an Aminco Recorder. The peak intensity was linear with respect to added luciferase in the range of 0.08 g to 8 g per ml using this instrument. Immobilized luciferase was assayed using the same concentrations of substrates. The rod containing the glass beads was placed in a test tube in the photometer and FMNH2 was injected.

Solubel FMN:eductase was assayed by measuring the rate of disappearance of absorption at 340 nm in a Cary Model 14 recording spectrophotometer. The reaction was initiated by adding NADH to 1 ml of 0.015 M phosphate buffer pH 7.0 - containing 7 x 10-5M ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid, 0.4 mgs reductase and FMN. Final concentrations were 2 x 10-4 M NADH, 1.3 x 10-4M FMN. When the immobilized enzyme was assayed the rod containing the enzyme was dipped into the cuvet which was mixed for 1 minute intervals. then removed and the OD 340 measured. This assay was linear for at least 3 minutes.

The coupled assay was measured by peak light intensity obtained following injection of NAD(P)H into 0.5 ml of 0.1M phosphate buffer pH 7.0 containing 7.5 g reductase, 5 g luciferase, and 2.3 x 10-6M FMN and 0.0005% decanal. When the immobilized enzyme was being assayed. the rod was immersed in the solution containing FMN and aldehyde.

NAD(P)H was injected into the solution.

The immobilized enzymes exhibited linearity in peak light intensity as a fuction of either NADH or NADPH concentration. Linearity with NADH was obtained in the range of 1 x 10-12 moles to 5 x 10-8 moles, and for NADPH in the range of 1 x 10-11 moles to 2 x 10-7 moles. The bound enzymes were stable and reusable.

The methods and techniques of the invention may be applied to assaying ligand-receptor interactions, in particular, antigen-antibody binding.

More specifically, U.S. Patent No. 3,817,837 to Rubenstein et al, issued June 18, 1974 described a means for assaying ligands wherein enzymes are bound to the ligand to provide an enzyme-bound-ligand". Enzymatic activity of the bound enzyme may be inhibited when the "enzyme-bound-ligands" are contacted with receptor molecules. Binding of the ligand by the receptor inhibits the activity of the enzyme bound to the ligand in inverse proportion to the amount of native ligand that is provided by a test sample. A determination of the enzyme activity is thus a measure of the sample ligand. It will be apparent that the binding enzyme may be selected from those groups of enzymes that require NAD or NADP or ATP as co-factors. In such event, the ligand bound enzyme is reacted with a suitable substrate and co-factor to produce NADH, NADPH, or ATP. The NADH, NADPH or ATP thus produced may then be coupled into the light producing luciferase reactions in the identical manner as noted above to provide an assay means for the enzyme-bound-ligand.

In a similar vein, immuno-assay procedures that rely upon enzyme determinations may be coupled into the immobilized light-producing reaction of the invention. For instance, U.S. Patent No. 3,791,932 to Schuurs et al. issued February 12, 1974 discloses a procedure for determining ligands or receptors which comprises reacting the component to be assayed with its binding partner in an insolubilized form, thereafter separating the solid phase from the liquid phase, and then reacting the solid phase with a determined amount of a coupling product of the substance to be determined with an enzyme. The activity of the enzyme distributed between the insolubilized and supernatant material is then determined as a measure of the antigen or antibody in the test sample. As in the case of the Rubenstein et al procedure, it is obvious that a properly selected enzyme can be reacted with a substrate which will yield a product determinable by the present invention method. The enzyme reaction products, can be then coupled into the immobilized radiation producing enzyme reactions of the present invention to assay the product.

As an additional embodiment of the invention, it is known to detect bacteria in fluid samples through the reaction or iron porphyrins, such as, peroxidase, cytochrome, catalase contained in microbial-cells, with luminol (5-amino-2, 3-dihydro-1, 4-phthalazine-dione) to produce visible light. See, for instance, Picciolo, et al, Goddard Space Flight Center publication X-726-76-212, dated September 1976, entitled "Applications of Luminescent Systems To Infectious Disease Methodology", pages 69 et. seq.

In such systems chemiluminescence is produced by the reaction of luminol with hydrogen peroxide in aqueous alkaline solution in the presence of an oxidizing activating agent such as fcrricyanide. hypochlorite. or a chelated transition metal such as iron or copper. In the bacterial detection system, the iron porphyrins are considered as activators for luminol chemiluminescence.

Such a chemiluminescent system is adaptable to the methods of the invention by concentrating, localizing and immobilizing the luminol on suitable support materials. The luminol mav be absorbed on a support material such as those previously referred to herein.

The localized immobilized luminol, will generate a concentrated light emission upon the activator-catalyzed reaction with hydrogen peroxide. This emission may be conventionally detected using the aforementioned photometer as a measure of activator, hence bacterial, presence.

Although the description, surpa, discloses and describes a number of specific examples of the methods and techniques of the present invention, it will be understood that the invention is not to be limited thereby. All extensions or variations of the invention as will be apparent to those skilled in the art are considered to be encompassed by the invention disclosed herein and in accordance with the claims appended hereto.

Claims

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A method of assaying a chemical species, in which method the electromagnetic radiation generated by a chemical or biochemical system is detected as a measure of said species, and in which at least one component essential to the electromagnetic radiation generating system is immobilized within a localised region of the reaction environment.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, in which the species to be assayed takes part in a reaction. or in one of a series of reactions, by which electromagnetic radiation is not generated, but by which a product capable of taking part in an electromagnetic radiation generating system is ultimately produced.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 in which at least one component essential to the reaction or series of reactions not generating electromagnetic radiation is immobilized within a localized region of the reaction environment in addition to the component essential to the electromagnetic radiation generating system.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3 in which all the immobilized components are immobilized at the same site.

5. A method as claimed in claim 4 in which all the immobilized components are intimatelv admixed with one another.

6. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims in which the reaction medium is aqueous. method

7. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims in which the quantity of electromagnetic radiation generated is in direct proportion to the amount of the species to be assayed present in the reaction medium.

8. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims in which one or more of the immobilised components is an enzyme.

9. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims in which the electromagnetic radiation is generated by a bioluminescent reaction.

10. A method as claimed in claim 8 in which th eimmobilized component forming part of the electromagnetic radiation generating system is a light generating enzyme.

11. A method as claimed in claim 10 in which the enzyme is a bacterial luciferase.

12. A method is claimed in claim 10 in which the enzyme is fire-fly luciferase.

13. A method as claimed in claim 8 in which one of the immobilized enzymes is FMN oxidoreductase.

14. A method as claimed in claim 8 in which one of the immobilized components is a kinase.

15. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims in which the immobilized component is bound to a solid support.

16. A method as claimed in claim 15 in which the support is transparent to electrointignetic rtiditition.

17. A method is claimed in claim 16 in which the support is a glass.

18. A method tis claimed in claim 17 in which the glass is arylamine or alkylamine glass.

19. A method ns claimed in either of claims 17 and 18 in which the support is in the form of a rod having glass beads attached thereto.

20. A method tis claimctl in claim 16 in which the support is in the form of a light conducling fibre.

21. A method ns claimed in claim 15 in which the immobilized component(s) are covtilently bound to the support.

22. A method is claimed in claim X in which one or more enzymes are covalently bound to a glass support by diazo groups.

23. A method is claimed in any of the preceding claims in which the species to be tisstiyed is a materitil which can be oxidized with the production of a reduced pyridine nucleotide.

24. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims in which the electromagnetic radiation generated is light.

25. A method is claimed in any of the preceding claims adapted for the assay of enzymes or enzyme substrates in which a first enzyme reacts with a substrate whereby a first product is formed in proportion to the amount of said first enzyme or said substrate, said first product then taking part in a second reaction whereby it reacts with an immobilized oxidoreductase to produce a second product, said second product then taking part in a third reaction with an immobilized light generating enzyme, the light generated in said third reaction being detected as a measure of said first enzyme or said substrate.

26. A method as claimed in claim 27 in which said first product is reduced nicotinamide adenine dinuclotide. said immobilized oxidoreductase is flavin mononucleotide oxidoreductase. said first product is reacted with flavin mononucleotide in the presence of the oxidoreductase to reduce the flavin mononucleotide, said light generating enzyme is luciferase, and the reduced flavin mononucleotide is reacted with a suitable substrate in the presence of the luciferase to oxidise the flavin mononucleotide and produce light.

27. A method as claimed in any of claims 1-24 in which one or more of the immobilized components is an enzyme co-factor.

28. A method as claimed in claim 27 on which the co-factor is FMN.

29. A method as claimed in any of claims 1-7 in which the electromagnetic radiation is generated by a chemiluminescent reaction.

30. A method as claimed in any of claimsl-7 in which the immobilized component of the electromagnetic radiation system is luminol.

31. An assay method as claimed in claim 1 for enzymes or enzyme substrates which comprises, (1) providing at least one first enzyme, (2) reacting said first enzyme with the substrate whereby a first product is formed in proportion to the first enzyme or said substrate, (3) providing an oxidoreductase and a light generating enzyme, both the oxidoreductase and the light generating enzyme being insolubilized upon an inert solid support, (4) reacting said first product with said oxidoreductase to produce a second product, said second product being a component which affects the emission of light by said light generating enzyme, and detecting light generated by said light generating enzyme.

32. An assay method as claimed in claim 1 for chemical species that enter into enzymatic reaction with NAD or NADP as a co-factor to produce NADH or NADPH as one product thereof. comprising providing a glass rod-like support member having porous glass beads affixed thereto, immobilizing an FMN oxidoreductase on said glass beads, also immobilizing bacterial luciferase on said glass beads, contacting said glass support member and the immobilized FMN oxidoreductase and bacterial luciferase with an aqueous solution including the NADH or NADPH, FMN, a long chain aldehyde, and oxygen, to thereby effect a reduction of FMN to FMNH2 and the oxidation of NADH to NAD or NADP by the FMN oxidoreductase, and the subsequent reoxidation of the FMNH2 to FMN by the bacterial luciferase to generate light proportional to the amount of FMNH2 reoxidized, detecting and quantifying the generated light to measure the amount of FMNH2 produced by the oxidation of the NADH or NADPH, and calculating therefrom the amount of chemical specied necessary to produce the initial NADH or NADPH.

33. A product for use in the assay of a achemical or biochemical species which comprises an oxidoreductase enzyme and a bacterial luciferase enzyme immobilized on an inert solid support.

34. A product as claimed in claim 33, wherein the oxidoreductase enzyme is FMN oxidoreductase.

35. A product as claimed in claim 33 wherein the inert solid support is transparent to electromagnetic radiation.

36. A product as claimed in claim 33 wherein the support is arylamine or alkylamine glass.

37. A product as claimed in claim 33 wherein the support is in the form of a rod.

3S. A product as claimed in claim 33 wherein the support comprises glass beads affixed to ti rod.

39. A product tis claimed in claim 33 wherein the support comprises a light conducting fibre.

40. A product as claimed in claims 33-39 wherein the immobilized components are covalently bound to the solid support.

41. A product as claimed in claim 40 wherein the immobilized components are bound to an arylamine glass support by diazo groups.

42. A product as claimed in claim 33 for use in the assay of biochemical and chemical species, which product comprises an insoluble support member and an enzyme retaining material integral therwith, to which enzyme retaining material is bound a bacterial luciferase enzyme in admixture with an FMN oxidoreductase enzyme.

43. An assay method claimed in claim 1 substantially as herein described.

44. An assay method as claimed in claim 1 substantially as herein described with reference to the examples.

45. A product ns claimed in claim 33 for use in the assay of chemical or bio-chemical species substantially as herein described.

46. A product as claimed in claim 33 for use in the assay of chemical or bio-chemical secies substantially as herein described with reference to the example.