Studies on the specificity of antibodies to ovalbumin in normal human serum: technical considerations in the use of ELISA methods

As part of a study designed to reveal information about molecular features of allergenic food proteins after absorption from the gut the specificity of antibodies in normal human serum to hen's egg ovalbumin was investigated using ELISA techniques. Preliminary investigations with monoclonal antibodies and hyperimmune rabbit antiserum specific for ovalbumin in its native and denatured form established that the molecule underwent an extensive conformational change on adsorption to polyvinyl chloride microtitre plates. The native conformation could be retained by using antibodies to couple the protein to the surface. Serum from 90% of healthy adult human donors contained IgG antibodies to ovalbumin. In nearly all cases the antibodies were specific predominantly for the native molecule and could not be absorbed with denatured ovalbumin or peptides prepared from it by cleavage with cyanogen bromide or trypsin. Antibodies to denatured ovalbumin were detected in most sera but at very low levels and were preferentially absorbed by the homologous antigen; peptides and native ovalbumin showing variable absorptive activity. Thus, although ovalbumin is ingested largely in a denatured form, the serum antibody response is stimulated mainly by topographic epitopes of the native molecule.