Studies on the radio-immunological measurement of plasma glucagon

This thesis was intended to study the question whether or not and to what extent it is possible to set up a two-site assay with an antibody directed aqainst N-terminal glucagon and against C-terminal glucagon in order to specifically detect glucagon 1-29. To this end, TPCK-trypsin digestion was used to produce the glucagon fragments 1-12 and 19-29 which were isolated and purified. Glucagon 1-12 was nonspecifically linked to the bifunctional reagent difluorodinitrobenzene; glucagon 19-29 was linked, on the one hand, specifically via its N-terminal aminoacid alanine19 to bovine serum albumin (BSA) using the novel method by D. Saunders, and, on the other hand, nonspecifically to thyreoglobulin by means of diffluorodinitro benzene. Guinea pigs were immunized with glucagon 1-12-thyreoglobulin and rabbits with glucagon 19-29-BSA and glucagon 19-29-thyreoglobulin. The rabbits only showed antibody titres sufficient for making an RIA with the highest titre being achieved by an antigen produced by means of the Saunders' method. The rabbit antibodies did react with the 125J glucagon tracer; however, the tracer was not displaced from its link to the antibody by an addition of a glucagon 1-29 standard up to 2,000 pg/ml. There is no explanation of this phenomenon to-date. (orig./MG)