Quantitative characterization of specificity and potency of conjugated antibody with solid-phase, antigen bead standards.

An immunofluorescent assay was used to characterize precisely the potency and specificity of fluorescein-conjugated immunoglobulin class-specific and polyvalent anti-sera. Stable antigen standards consisted of highly purified immunoglobulin antigens covalently bound to polyaminostyrene beads. Linear regressions of weighted logit transformations of relative fluorescent intensities versus the logarithm of relative conjugate concentrations were determined. The potency of conjugates was compared using two different methods derived from the logit transformation. Inappropriate specificities were measured in some conjugates described as immunoglobulin 'class-specific'.