Reactivities of human urinary prokallikrein and kallikrein toward rabbit antibodies with special reference to enzyme immunoassay.

Human urinary prokallikrein and kallikrein have been analyzed by means of solid phase enzyme immunoassay (EIA) using rabbit antibodies. The anti-kallikrein antibody-immobilized EIA detected both kallikrein and prokallikrein. However, only kallikrein was detectable at concentrations below 20 micrograms/1. The anti-prokallikrein antibody-immobilized EIA detected both kallikrein and prokallikrein, but the binding maximum for kallikrein was about one-third less than that for prokallikrein. Similar difference in reactivity of kallikrein and prokallikrein toward each antibody was observed with immunoaffinity column chromatography and single radial immunodiffusion. The results show that immunochemical properties of human urinary prokallikrein and kallikrein differ distinctly, and conflicting results on detectability of kallikrein and prokallikrein in human urine with EIA or radioimmunoassay using the anti-kallikrein antibody was due to the difference in reactivity of the two forms of kallikrein toward the immobilized antibody.