The overall goal of this project is to produce selective immunoassays capable of differentially detecting taxol and congeners of taxol, and a generic immunoassay for detecting the common taxane ring structure. Taxol is currently showing promise in Phase II clinical trials. HPLC methods for taxol are available but methods for related compounds and metabolites have not been reported. The proposed immunoassays would provide an alternative analytical method for taxol and related compounds, which could complement HPLC methodology in clinical studies. In addition, the immunoassays specific for taxol would be useful for identifying high taxol producing strains of Taxis Brevifola. We plan to synthesize well characterized taxol immunogens which should elicit antibody responses in rabbits and mice. The goal of Phase I research will be to demonstrate the feasibility of producing a taxol-specific immunoassay utilizing polyclonal rabbit antibodies. Phase II research will focus on refining the taxol-specific assay and on production of additional monoclonal antibody-based immunoassays for related taxanes.
| Grothaus, P G; Raybould, T J; Bignami, G S et al. (1993) An enzyme immunoassay for the determination of taxol and taxanes in Taxus sp. tissues and human plasma. J Immunol Methods 158:5-15 |
