ABSTRACT
High-molecular-weight foreign proteins and polypeptides are naturally immunogenic and when injected into a suitable animal they will elicit an immune response. Low-molecular-weight peptides-in the range 2000 to 10000 Dalton-are capable of eliciting an immune response on their own but the response is usually weak. This response may be improved considerably by coupling the peptides to largermolecular-weight carrier proteins which are themselves immunogenic. Peptides with molecular masses of less than 2000 Dalton, steroid hormones, thyroid hormones and most drugs are haptens which must first be covalently attached to a carrier protein (usually foreign to the animal being immunised), before a satisfactory immune response can be elicited. This book is devoted to the immunoassay of small molecules, i.e. compounds with molecular masses of less than 2000 Dalton, hence this chapter will focus on the production of immunogenic hapten-protein conjugates.
