This project is concerned with the development of nonenzymatic reagents for immunohistochemistry, with emphasis on adapting the new technology to the expanding field of immunohistochemical diagnosis of cancer. Phase I involves the development of the first family of reagents, namely, phenazine derivatives conjugated to antibodies against tumor-associated antigens, and determination of stability, immunoreactivity and staining of tumor tissue sections. Phase II will be devoted to the development of staining protocols and kits and explorations of new classes of staining reagents, including artificial enzymes and improving the conjugation of these ligands to the antibodies (especially via bridging synthetic polymers). It is expected that the new nonenzymatic reagents will prove to be more stable than the conventional antibody-enzyme reagents, thus having a longer shelf-life, and will be easier to conjugate to antibodies with higher reproducibility. (5)
