A NOVEL METHOD FOR MAPPING ASSEMBLED EPITOPES IN BATCHES - IDENTIFICATION OF 3 EPITOPES AT THE RECEPTOR-BINDING REGION OF HUMAN CHORIONIC-GONADOTROPIN

Identification of conformation-specific epitopes of hCG beta has been done using a simple batch method, Chemically or enzymatically-modified hCG beta has been prepared in a batch and the effect of modifications on the integrity of different epitope regions has been investigated i n a quantitative manner using monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) immobilized on plastic tubes from culture supernatants. Based on the extent of da mage done to different regions by different modifications, three confo rmation-specific epitopes of hCG beta have been identified. The method has been shown to have important advantages over the existing methods on many considerations, Using this approach, these epitopes have been shown to be at/near the receptor-binding region.