Development of murine monoclonal antibodies to methamphetamine and methamphetamine analogues

Methamphetamine and ecstasy are addictive drugs that cause major health problems in young people. Here we report on the development of high-affinity monoclonal antibodies to methamphetamine and its analogues, which may constitute powerful tools for antibody-based therapy. Six haptens, methamphetamine and ecstasy analogues, were synthesized, linked to a carrier protein and injected into mice. Several specific monoclonal antibodies were subsequently obtained following fusion of splenocytes from the immunized animals, with Sp2/O cells. Antibody specificity was fully investigated by competition ELISA, using a series of analogues, to identify specific amphetamine and/or ecstasy-specific antibodies. Antibody affinity was estimated to be in the range of 10(8) M(-1) with an enantiomeric hapten. Finally, two characteristic hybridoma clones (DAS-M243-6H5 and DAS-M278-4B12), secreting specific and potent mAbs were isolated. The development of drug-specific antibodies as in this study may provide promising therapeutic insight into how to neutralize methamphetamine in vivo during acute intoxication.