Universal Antibodies to Human Interferon-α Subtypes— The Production of Antipeptide Antibodies to Conserved Regions of Interferon-α

Antibodies to three conserved regions of all human interferon (IFN)-α₁ subtypes were raised by immunizing rabbits with short synthetic peptides coupled to a carrier. These peptides correspond to amino acid residues 29–36, 31–36, 126–131, 139–151, and 142–151 of the consensus sequence of IFN-α₁. The antibodies were tested for reactivity with IFN-α₁, -α_2a, -α_2b, -α_4a, and -α₁₄ and IFN-β. Most antipeptide antibodies react only weakly with IFN-α subtypes; only the antibodies raised against the peptide corresponding to residues 142–151 conjugated to keyhole limpet hemocyanin using glutaraldehyde react appreciably with all IFN-α subtypes tested. These antipeptide antibodies are potentially universal antibodies to the human IFN-α₁ subtypes, since they exhibit similar binding affinity to all the IFN-α subtypes tested and do not react with IFN-β.