Enzymatic tracer damage during the gonadotropin releasing hormone radioimmunoassay: analytical and immunological assessment

Hypothalamic supernatants from 60 day female rats were fractionated from Sephadex G-200 columns. The radioimmunoassay (RIA) for gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) detected an apparently cross-reacting high molecular weight substance. The substance caused apparent displacement of iodinated GnRH binding in dose response fashion; however, no biological activity was observed in pituitary cell cultures. In order to determine whether the depressed binding might be caused by enzymatic degradation of iodinated GnRH during the RIA incubation, iodinated GnRH was preincubated under RIA conditions with either buffer or increasing concentrations of the GnRH cross-reacting material. Aliquots were subjected to polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and the gels slices counted. Identical aliquots were subsequently used as iodinated hormone in the RIA of known quantities of synthetic GnRH. Tracer damage during the RIA-like preincubation period was reflected in the subsequent PAGE studies as decreased counts per minute in the intact GnRH peak and in the RIA studies as over-estimated quantification of the GnRH standards. This report describes such damage during the GnRH RIA and the data misinterpretations which result. 30 references, 6 figures, 1 table