Comparative immunochemical analysis of some human leukocytic interferons

Using radioimmunological methods based on the use of mono- and polyclonal antibodies raised against interferon alpha A, it was shown that polyclonal antibodies quantitatively reacted not only with this protein, but also with interferons alpha F and alpha N, whereas all the variants of monoclonal antibodies studied reacted only with interferons alpha A and alpha N. Monoclonal antibodies 5A6, 11E9, 19C10, 258 and 268 are directed against overlapping epitopes of the interferon alpha A molecule, which simultaneously binds not more than two molecules of antibodies with different specificity. The correlation between immunochemical and biological activities of interferon alpha A during temperature denaturation and proteolytic degradation and its ability to form oligomeric complexes were investigated.