Synthesis and Characterization of an Immunodiagnosis Protein-Latex for Detecting the Chagas Disease through Agglutination Tests

GONZALEZ, VERÓNICA D.G.; GUGLIOTTA, LUIS M.; MEIRA, GREGORIO R.

Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Congreso; World Polymer Congress (Macro 2006), 41 st International Symposium on Macromolecules; 2006

A novel immunodiagnosis reagent for detecting the Chagas Disease was developed, by coupling the Ag36 antigen of Trypanosoma cruzi onto two (carboxylated and core-shell) latexes. The latexes were producted by batch and semibatch emulsion copolymerizations of styrene (St) and methacrylic acid (MAA) onto polystyrene (PS) latex seeds. For determining the appropriate conditions for the physical and chemical coupling of the Ag36 antigen, Bovine serum albumin (BSA) was used as a model protein. The chemical bonding experiments of both BSA and Ag36 onto the carboxylated latexes involved the use of a carbodiimide as an intermediate reagent. Finally, immunoassays were carried out to test the latex-protein complexes.