Block copolymers of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide (pluronics) as immunomodulators and antitumour agents.

Block copolymers of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide (pluronics) are nontoxic water-soluble membranotropic surfactants available as polymers with various compositions, molecular masses, number, and arrangement of blocks. In vivo experiments are reported which demonstrate that these polymers and their functional derivatives stimulate the production of anti-sheep-erythrocyte antibodies in mice. The introduction of reactive (hydroperoxide) groups into the polymers by chemical modification or by solubilization of low-molecular-mass hydroperoxides alters the properties of these immunostimulators.

A new way in homogeneous immunoassay: reversed micellar systems as a medium for analysis.

Possibilities of a new principle for the homogeneous enzyme immunoassay utilizing the systems of surfactant reversed micelles in organic solvents have been demonstrated taking thyroxine determination as an example. The catalytic activity of an enzyme, solubilized in such systems, is determined by the ratio of geometric dimensions of the micellar matrice and the enzyme molecule. The addition of antibodies against thyroxine to the peroxidase-thyroxine conjugate, solubilized in the system of reversed micelles of aerosol OT in octane, leads to the formation of the immune complex whose size differs substantially from that of the initial enzyme-antigen conjugate.