Development of Polyclonal Antibodies for Detection of Diosbulbin B-Derived cis-Enedial Protein Adducts

Diosbulbin B (DSB), a major component of herbal medicine Dioscorea bulbifera L. (DB), can be metabolized to an electrophilic intermediate, DSB-derived cis-enedial (DDE). DDE was suggested to contribute to the hepatotoxicity observed in experimental animals and humans after their exposure to DSB. Our previous work found that DDE reacted with primary amino and/or sulfhydryl groups of hepatic protein. The objective of the study was to develop polyclonal antibodies that can recognize DDE-derived protein adducts. Immunogens synthesized from DDE and keyhole limpet hemocyanin were employed to raise polyclonal antibodies in rabbits. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) demonstrated high titers of antisera obtained from immunized rabbits. Immunoblot analysis showed that DDE-modified bovine serum albumin (BSA) was recognized by the obtained polyclonal antibodies in a concentration-dependent manner and without cross-reaction to native BSA. Competitive ELISA and competitive immunoblot analyses defined the specificity of the antibodies to recognize BSA modified by DDE. Immunoblot analysis also detected a multitude of chemiluminescent bands with a variety of molecular weights in liver homogenates that were harvested from mice treated with DSB. In summary, we have successfully raised polyclonal antibodies to detect protein adducts derived from DDE.