Monoclonal antibodies for the immunoassay of mutagenic compounds produced by cooking beef.

A family of 2-amino-N-methylimidazoazaarene (AIA) mutagens are produced in meats by cooking, and are of concern as potential carcinogens in the human diet. These are potent genotoxins in bacterial mutation assays, but are present only in trace quantities in cooked foods. Conventional analytical chemistry methods have allowed us to identify six members of the AIA class, but these methods are much too labor-intensive for us to quantify mutagens in large numbers of meat samples. To improve the assay of these mutagens we have developed six monoclonal antibodies (named IQ-1, IQ-2, AIA-1, AIA-2, AIA-4, and AIA-7) and demonstrated their utility in an immunoassay for cooked food mutagens. Each antibody has its own unique binding selectivity pattern; some are compound-specific, and some class-specific. A comparison was made between cooked beef extracts that differed 200-fold in mutagenic activity. The high-mutagen extract had significantly more material that was immunologically cross-reactive with the anti-AIA antibodies than did the low-mutagen extract. Taken as a set, these antibodies will allow rapid quantitation of foods for several AIA mutagens, and will aid in the isolation and characterization of other AIAs and AIA-metabolites.