CORE-SHELL METAL PARTICLES COATED WITH DEXTRAN OR AMINODEXTRAN CARRYING SH GROUPS, AND USE THEREOF

Abstract: The present invention concerns colloidal metal particles with a coating of non cross-linked SH-activated dextran or aminodextran as well as the production and use of such particles in immunological test procedures.

Description: CORE-SHELL METAL PARTICLES COATED WITH DEXTRAN OR AMINODEXTRAN CARRYING SH GROU PS , AND USE THEREOF The present invention concerns colloidal metal particles coated with non cross-linked SH- activated dextran or aminodextran as well as the production and use of such particles in immunological test methods. Description: In recent years colloidal metal particles have been extensively used in biological, biochemical and immunological investigations. Especially in the field of immunological assays the application of colloidal metal particles for labelling of any type of biomolecule has been very successful. For the production of colloidal metal particles, in particular colloidal gold particles many different methods have been described. The colloidal gold particles are usually obtained by the reduction of solutions of the tetrachloroauric acid and the relevant biomolecules are bound to these particles by adsorption in one or several further steps. The size of the colloidal metal particles can be controlled specifically by means of the initial concentration of the different reaction partners (G.Frens, Nature Physical Science, 241, p. 20-22 (1973)). The variation of the particle size can also be optimised by the specific selection of the production procedure as described in EP-B-426 300. The binding of biomolecules like for example antibodies, lectins or even nucleic acids is mainly adsorptive with the respective loading conditions strongly depending on the physico- chemical properties (e.g. isoelectric point) of the biomolecule. Principal reflections on the coating of colloidal metal particles can be found in the relevant technical literature (e.g. deMey, The Preparation and Use of Gold Probes, in: Immunocytochemistry, J.M.Polak and S.v. Noorden, pp. 115 - 145, Wright, Bristol, 1986 or G.T, Hermanson, Preparation of Colloidal-Gold-Labelled Proteins, in: Bioconjugate Techniques, pp. 593 - 604, Academic Press, 1996). It has been proven to be necessary and useful to stabilize the colloidal metal particles coated with the biomolecule by adding further appropriate substances. The addition of such stabilizing and blocking substances produces the effect that probably non-saturated, "sticky" sites on the particles are blocked. In addition, by these substances the aggregation of the particles is minimized and the re-diffusion of the relevant biomolecule is reduced. State of the art stabilizers are among others inert proteins like for example bovine serum albumin or water-soluble technical polymers like polyethylene glycol (molecular weight of 20,000 D), polyvinyl pyrrolidone, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl sulphate, dextran as well as gelatine (cf, e.g. De Mey, supra; Beesly, IE., Colloidal Gold: A New Perspective for Cytochemical Marking, Microscopy Handbooks 17, Oxford University Press, 1989, in particular pp. 1-14; Behnke, EurJ.Cell. Biol. 41 (1986). pp.326-338; DE 2420531 C3; Meisel et al., JPhys. Chem. 85 (1981), pp.179-187). The direct coating of biomolecules on the surface of colloidal metal particles has however also some important disadvantages. Such a disadvantage is for example that successful methods cannot be transferred easily from one biomolecule to a second and that the stability of such particles has proven to be problematic (cf. de Mey, supra, p. 116 and pp. 122-123). To avoid such problems of the older state of the art some new methods have been developed in recent years. In particular the so-called core-shell particles are to be mentioned here. Core- shell particles consist of a (usually) metal core and of a shell surrounding the particle completely. Important examples of such shell substances are for example BSA (bovine serum albumin), described in EP 258 963 and EP 428 412, denatured proteins like for example gelatine, water-soluble polymers like e.g. amino dextran (US 5,248,772) or shells made of low-molecular thiol compounds or thiolized proteins (EP 489 465). To stabilize the shell the shell substances are usually cross-linked (e.g. US 5,248,772). Such shells contain functional groups to which the desired biomolecules can bind in a covalent way as it is generally known. The covalent coupling of the biomolecules to the core-shell particles has some advantages over the direct adsorptive binding to the colloidal surface. By the covalent coupling the bleeding of the biomolecules can be avoided. Furthermore, unspecific interactions are stopped which are provoked by the remaining, free surface areas inaccessible for adsorption during the adsorptive loading procedure. A post-treatment of the surface by adding stabilizers is not necessary with core-shell particles. By the use of a well soluble hydrophilic shell the stability of the resulting core-shell-protein conjugates can be remarkably improved. Instability caused by the aggregation of the conjugates as it is repeatedly observed with adsorptively loaded colloidal- protein conjugates can thus be avoided. Furthermore, the covalent coupling of the proteins to the core-shell particles is to a large extent independent of the physico-chemical properties of the proteins so that even proteins can be used which are not suitable for an adsorptive binding. The shell substances used in the state of the art adsorb to the metal surface by complex and hitherto not completely understood mechanisms involving electrostatic as well as hydrophobic interactions. The type of shell substance determines which bond type prevails when the shell substances bind to the colloidal metal particles. Interactions of metals, in particular gold, with compounds containing sulphur lead to a reinforced adsorptive binding. EP 369 515 describes the coating of colloidal gold particles with low-molecular compounds containing thiol. By additional functional groups the relevant biomolecules can be bound to this thiol shell. It is also known from the state of the art that chemically cross-linked aminodextrans can be used as shell substance (US 5,248,772). Cross-linking of the aminodextran is required to give sufficient stability to the particles produced in such a way. A further disadvantage of the method described in US 5,248,772 is that SH-groups suitable for coupling must be inserted into the shell of cross-linked aminodextran afterwards. Such a procedure requires several additional working steps. In addition, the insertion rate of the SH-groups can only be controlled less exactly and the analysis of the insertion efficiency is almost not possible. In the state of the art no core-shell particles based on aminodextran are known, which can be produced easily, quickly and without high costs and which do not need any further treatment steps like for instance the cross-linking of the aminodextran shell or a subsequent insertion of functional groups (e.g. for coupling chemistry on SH basis). It was therefore an object to provide improved core-shell particles avoiding as much as possible the disadvantages of the state of the art. This object is achieved by the invention defined in more detail in the claims. The present invention provides colloidal metal particles with an SH-dextran of SH- aminodextran shell which can be produced easily and reproducibly and which have many advantages when used, especially in immunoassays. The invention concerns in particular colloidal metal particles with a shell surrounding these metal particles (core-shell metal particles) wherein this shell does not consist of non cross-linked dextran or aminodextran carrying SH-groups. Figure legend: Figure 1: UY Vis analysis of antibody gold conjugates produced according to the state of the art. Under the storage conditions chosen (approx. 7 months at 4°C) the UN/Nis analytics shows that the curves of both conjugate batches indicate a remarkable change in the curve form before and after stress. This means that the conjugates tested have been strongly changed by their storage at 4°C for approx. 7 months. In other words, these conjugates are not stable under the conditions tested. Figure 2: UV/Vis analysis of antibody gold conjugates produced using core- shell particles according to the invention. The almost identical curve form of both preparations before and after stress in the UN/Nis analysis proves that both batches produced according to the invention show the same behaviour under the storage conditions chosen (approx. 7 months at 4°C) and no changes have occurred. This means that the conjugates are stable under the conditions tested. Figure 3: Remission analysis of a core-shell particle according to the invention and of a particle according to the state of the art. A monoclonal antibody (MAB) was bound to the colloidal gold particles produced according to the invention. Furthermore, an MAB-gold conjugate was produced according to methods of the state of the art. Both conjugates were evaluated by means of remission analysis. A lower remission value is identical with an improved sensitivity of the conjugate in the test. The following describes the invention in detail: The terms colloidal core-shell particles or colloidal metal particles with a shell are applied in the following to describe particles with a metal core and a shell/coating consisting of one or several non-metal components. As metal core particles all colloidal metal particles producible according to methods of the state of the art can be considered. Preferably, the metals concerned are noble metals, in particular gold or silver and particularly preferably gold. Dextrans belong to a polysaccharide group known to the expert. Preferably, molecules with molecular weights from 5000 to 2 MioD, also preferably from 20000 to 1 MioD and particularly preferably from 30000 to 100000D are used. Into the commercially available dextrans or aminodextrans SH-groups are inserted; aminodextrans are here particularly preferred. The insertion of SH-groups is a chemical reaction of for instance activated carboxylic acids with the amino groups. For this reagents of the type S-acetyl-thiopropionyl-acid-N-hydroxysuccinimide ester (SATP), N-succinimidyl-S- acetylthioacetate (SATA) or S-acetyl-mercapto-succinic anhydride (SAMBA) are preferably used. Activation of the OH-groups of the dextrans is for example initiated by l-cyano-4- (dimethylamino)-pyridinium tetrafluoroborate (CDAP) and the insertion of SH-groups by subsequent adding of SH-protected aminothiols (e.g. S-acetyl cysteamine). When using SATP for the insertion of SH-groups in aminodextran by far the biggest part of the amino groups should be converted. The SH-groups are then released by adding hydroxylamine. Particularly advantageous are SH-aminodextrans with amino groups converted to an extent of at least 70%, particularly preferably 80% and very particularly preferably 90% and which carry an SH-functionality. Activation of aminodextran by means of SATP can be carried out under very variable conditions with preferred pH values of 7.5 to 9.0 and temperatures of 4°C or room temperature and periods from 2 to 24 hours. It has been proven to be particular suitable to work with a pH of 8.5 at room temperature and to fix a reaction period of approx. 3 hours. The release of the SH-groups for example by adding hydroxylamine is particularly preferable under weakly acid pH conditions, particularly preferable with a pH of 6,0 to 6.5. If in the following SH-aminodextran or aminodextran with active SH-groups or SH-acitvated aminodextran is mentioned this generally includes SH-aminodextrans or SH-dextrans as they may for example be produced according to the methods discussed above. In the relevant state of the art (EP 489 465) it is explicitly mentioned that for post-coating, stabilization and provision of reactive groups short-chain molecules, e.g. alkylethiols with a maximum chain length of 24 C-atoms should be used. There are good reasons why the upper chain length limit is set to 24 C-atoms in EP 489 465. The reason for this fear of long-chain molecules with more than 2 or 3 SH-groups is evident. The expert had to assume that long- chain molecules like for example SH-aminodextrans do not stabilize metal-sol particles but lead to agglutination. Precisely, these agglomerates or nuggets of many colloidal metal particles constitute the biggest problem in the field of technology and lead to instabilities and problems caused by unspecific binding. Surprisingly, it has however been shown that SH-aminodextrans are very advantageous when used for post-coating and stabilization of colloidal metal particles. This post-treatment leads to remarkably stable particles so that cross-linking of the aminodextran monomers as it is usually carried out (US 5,248,772) is no more necessary at all. Obviously, the binding to the metal surface by means of the SH-functionalities is so stable that neither an additional post- coating for saturation of free "sticky" surface components nor a cross-linking of the SH- aminodextran molecules is required to avoid re-diffusion (bleeding of unstable molecule bindings). A subject matter of the invention is therefore the use of SH-aminodextrans for coating and stabilization of colloidal metal particles. The invention relates to a method for the production of colloidal metal particles with an SH- aminodextran shell wherein the colloidal metal particles and the SH-activated aminodextran are incubated under suitable conditions. Surprisingly, the core-shell particles according to the invention are easy to prepare. Simple mixing of the colloidal gold solution and the solution of the SH-modified aminodextran under a controlled pH at room temperature provokes the forming of the core-shell particles according to the invention. The thus resulting particles are only washed and can be used for coupling to linker- or biomolecules without the occurrence of stabilization via cross-linking. The coating of the gold sol produced according to the standard procedure with SH- aminodextran is preferably performed in the range from pH 5,0 to 7.0, particularly preferably between pH 5.5 and pH 6.5. The reaction temperature and reaction period can be broadly varied but 4°C or room temperature for 2 to 24 hours are preferred. The invention especially relates to colloidal metal particles with a shell surrounding these metal particles (core-shell metal particles) wherein the shell does consist of non cross-linked aminodextran carrying SH-groups. Particularly preferably these colloidal metal particles according to the invention consist of noble metals, in particular of gold and silver, very particularly preferably of gold. Not all SH-groups are blocked by the coating and interaction with the metal surface. Many SH-groups are surprisingly not involved in the interaction with the metal surface. These SH- groups which are still accessible after their coating represent an optimum binding site for further molecules, in particular biomolecules. Thus it has been proven to be very advantageous to use SH-reactive homo- or heterobi- functional linkers which on the one hand provoke a covalent binding to the SH-group of the SH-aminodextran and on the other hand also bind covalently to the biomolecule wanted via a specifically chosen functionality. Preferred functionalities on the biomolecules to be coupled are for example NH 2 - or SH-groups. Moreover the invention concerns a method for the production of conjugates consisting of biomolecules, in particular antibodies and colloidal SH-aminodextran metal particles. The loading of the particles with the biomolecules is carried out under appropriate buffer conditions. Particularly preferably at a pH ranging from 6.5 to 7.0 biomolecules activated by maleimide can be coupled via covalent binding to the gold particles loaded with SH- aminodextran. The coupling of the biomolecules is preferably performed overnight, i.e. over a period of approx. 10 to 30 hours at a temperature that is not critical and can be about 4°C or room temperature. For blocking of the still present reactive maleimide groups reagents such as thioglucose of cysteine are used. SH-groups are blocked by adding reagents such as iodo- acetamide, N-methyl-maleimide (NMM) or N-ethyl-maleirnide ( EM). As biomolecules all molecules used in the usual diagnostic test methods are considered. According to the invention these are preferably nucleic acids, peptides and proteins. Other biomolecules like for example haptens, lipids or polysaccharides also have a beneficial effect when used. Particularly preferred are biomolecules from the group of proteins, in particular such proteins representing good binding partners for further biomolecules, very particularly preferable are here lectins, avidin, streptavidin and antibodies. According to the invention the term antibody also includes - besides the intact immunoglobulins - all antibody fragments. These are for example Fab, Fab' of F(ab') 2 fragments. The term antibody without the additive "monoclonal" or "polyclonal" always includes both types of antibodies as well as chimeric constructs and all fragments mentioned above. The present invention therefore concerns in another form core-shell particles with a coating of non cross-linked SH-aminodextrans to which further molecules are bound via the SH-groups of the SH-aminodextran. For this covalent binding or coupling of biomolecules it is advantageous to use SH-reactive linker molecules, i.e. molecules with at least two groups suitable for coupling with at least one group reacting preferably with SH-groups. The invention therefore also relates to colloidal metal particles with a coating of non cross-linked SH-aminodextran carrying SH-reactive linker molecules. The present invention particularly includes core-shell particles to which the biomolecules were coupled. Here it is not important whether the coupling of the biomolecules is done directly to the SH-functions of the SH-aminodextran or whether homo- or heterobifunctional linkers are used for coupling. The core-shell particles coupled to the biomolecules are also called conjugates. In a particularly preferable form binding partners for further biomolecules, particularly antibodies are coupled to the colloidal metal particles according to the invention. It has been shown that the antibody conjugates according to the invention, i.e. conjugates of the gold-core-shell particles and antibodies according to the invention are advantageous over analogous state of the art particles. When comparing the storage stability of antibody-gold- particle conjugates produced with gold particles according to the state of the art (figure 1) or, respectively, using the core-shell particles according to the invention (figure 2) it becomes clear that the last-mentioned are much more stable. Besides the surprisingly good stability the conjugates according to the invention exhibit a better behaviour in immunological test systems. The results regarding the immunological sensitivity of two different antibody-gold- particle conjugates given in figure 3 are derived from a so-called quick test of a test-strip format. From figure 3 the expert can gather that the test is more sensitive when using the conjugates according to the invention. Usually, quick tests are to be understood as test systems with single or all reactive test components impregnated on one carrier structure, e.g. in the form of a test strip so that for the test procedure itself it is sufficient to apply a sample fluid. Analyte molecules in the sample react with the impregnated detection reagents while the sample fluid passes the test strip. Generally the test strip includes an equipment as the detection zone, e.g. in the form of a line of a tightly bound specific binding partner to gather the analyte-detection reagent complexes. The signal intensity in this detection zone can then be determined with the naked eye or by appropriate analytical instruments. The wide variety of such quick test embodiments are known to the expert (e.g. from EP-B-186 799 or EP-A-299 428). The conjugates according to the invention can thus for example be used in a quick test for the detection of anti-HIV antibodies. The quantitative evaluation of the test strip results by means of remission measurement via a chromometer showed that the conjugates produced according to the invention had significantly higher signals than other comparable test strips with adsorptively loaded conjugates. For comparison, figure 3 shows a dilution series of an HIV-positive sample for both conjugates. A lower remission is synonymous with higher sensitivity regarding the concentration series measured. For the test strip performance this is a remarkable advantage. The use of the conjugates according to the invention consisting of biomolecules, in particular antibodies and colloidal SH-aminodextran-metal particles in test systems as a marker or detection reagent, especially in immunological test procedures and particularly preferable in the so-called quick tests is therefore a further particularly preferable embodiment of the present invention. The use of the conjugates according to the invention is possible in all usual immunological test procedures known to the expert. In all known immunoassays the analyte is specifically detected directly or indirectly in a sample by means of binding to one or several immunological binding partners. The usual test formats for example heterogeneous or homogeneous test procedures are known to the expert and need no further explanation here. A further subject matter of the invention therefore is a procedure, in particular an immunological procedure for the detection of an analyte in a sample where the conjugates of the core-shell particles according to the invention are used together with biomolecules as a marker or detection reagent. The following ' examples further elucidate the invention: Example 1 Insertion of SH-groups in aminodextran 5 g of aminodextran with a molecular weight of approx. 40 000 and a concentration of approx. 30 amino groups per molecule is dissolved in 200 ml of phosphate buffer, pH 8.5. 1.225 g SATP are dissolved in 62 ml DMSO and added to the amino dextran solution. The mixture is stirred at room temperature for 3 hours and then dialysed. The release of the SH- groups is achieved by adding 694 mg of hydroxyl amine dissolved in 2 ml water. The pH is adjusted to 6.0 and after one hour dialysed against phosphate buffer pH 6.0. Example 2 Coating of colloidal gold with SH-modifϊed aminodextrans 400 ml of a gold sol produced according to the state of the art with a concentration of 400 OD is adjusted to a pH of 5.6. Subsequently, 400 μg of the SH-aminodextran produced according to example 1 is added to 10 mM K-acetate pH 5.6 and stirred for 2 hours. Example 3 Insertion of maleimide groups (MH) into the antibody 18 mg immunoglobulin of a monoclonal murine antibody against digoxigenin (MAB<Dig>M-IgG) are dissolved in 1 ml phosphate buffer pH 7. 6.9 mg of MHS are dissolved in 690 μl DMSO. 330 μl of the antibody solution are subsequently mixed with 10 μl of the MHS solution and stirred at 4°C for 2 hours. Afterwards dialysis is performed overnight. Example 4 Production of the conjugates from MH-IgG and SH-aminodextran gold 360 OD of the SH-aminodextran gold are adjusted to pH 6.6. Subsequently 720 μg of the MH-modified antibody, dissolved in 40 ml acetate/Tris buffer pH 6,6 are added, the pH is set to 7,0 and the mixture is stirred at 4°C overnight. The surplus SH- and maleimide groups which have not completely reacted are then stopped by adding thioglucose and iodo- acetamide. Subsequently, 400 mg of bovine serum albumin are added and the pH is set to 7.8. Example 5 Production of an adsorptively loaded conjugate The solution of the antibody to be loaded is dialysed against the appropriate loading buffer (e.g. Tris, pH 8.0). Possibly existing aggregates are removed by filtration. The pH value of the gold sol solution is adjusted to the pH of the protein solution. The antibody solution (lOμg protein/OD gold) is added to the gold sol solution and incubated for 2 hours. Subsequently it is saturated by adding a 10% BSA solution (final concentration of approx. 1% BSA). The purification of the conjugate is reached by dialysis. Example 6 Function evaluation for the conjugates according to the invention a) Liquid stability MAB<Dig>M-IgG-aminodextran-SH conjugates as well as conjugates from MAB<Dig>M- IgG and gold sol particles from the state of the art were stored at 4°C for 7 months. Over the period observed the conjugates according to the invention remained unchanged with regard to their UV/Vis spectrum. Adsorptively loaded conjugates exhibit however a changed spectrum in accordance with a broader particle size distribution (cf. figures 1 + 2). b) Functionality test The described MAB<Dig>M-IgG-aminodextran-SH conjugates were evaluated in an anti- HTV antibody test and compared with an adsorptively loaded conjugate. The test format is designed as a dry test with test strips having the HlV-specific reaction partners (dioxigenylated) dried on one carrier fleece. The MAB<Dig>M-IgG-gold conjugate is dried on a separate carrier fleece. By application of the liquid sample (e.g. serum, plasma) the dried reagents and reaction partners are re-solubilized, react with the HIN-specific antibodies to be detected from the sample and are indicated in a separate detection field by the red colour of the gold conjugate.

Claims: Claims 1. Colloidal metal particles with a shell surrounding these metal particles (core-shell metal particles) wherein the shell consists of non cross-linked dextran or aminodextran carrying SH groups. 2. Core-shell metal particles as claimed in claim 1 wherein the particles are noble metal particles. 3. Core-shell metal particles as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein further molecules are bound to the metal particles via the SH-groups. 4, Core-shell metal particles as claimed in claim 3 wherein the further molecules are SH- reactive linker molecules. 5. Core-shell metal particles as claimed in claim 4 wherein biomolecules are coupled to the linker molecules. 6. Core-shell metal particles as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the biomolecules are directly coupled to the SH-functions. 7. Core-shell metal particles as claimed in claim 5 or 6 wherein the biomolecules are antibodies. 8. Use of colloidal metal particles as claimed in one of the aforementioned claims as a marker or detection reagent in immunological test procedures, 9. Use of colloidal particles as claimed in one of the aforementioned claims as detection reagent in quick tests. 10. Method of production of colloidal metal particles with a shell containing active SH- functions wherein for the coating of these colloidal metal particles an aminodextran is used into which SH-groups were inserted. 11, Use of SH-aminodextran for post-coating or stabilization of colloidal metal particles. 12. Method for the detection of an analyte in a sample wherein for the detection of the analyte a conjugate according to one of the claims 5 to 7 is used.

Inventors: FISCHER THOMAS, HEIMERL SEBASTIAN, KUERZINGER KONRAD, SLUKA PETER, FISCHER, THOMAS, HEIMERL, SEBASTIAN, KUERZINGER, KONRAD, SLUKA, PETER
Applicants: FISCHER THOMAS, HEIMERL SEBASTIAN, HOFFMANN LA ROCHE, KUERZINGER KONRAD, ROCHE DIAGNOSTICS GMBH, SLUKA PETER, F. HOFFMANN-LA ROCHE AG, FISCHER, THOMAS, HEIMERL, SEBASTIAN, KUERZINGER, KONRAD, SLUKA, PETER
Application year: 2001
Main classification: G01N33
IPC codes: G01N33