Soluble amyloid-β (Aβ) oligomers are thought to be a cause of neurodegeneration and memory loss in Alzheimer disease (AD). We recently reported a newly developed enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for high molecular weight (HMW) Aβ oligomers in which the same Aβ monoclonal antibody, BAN50, was used for both capture and detection in a single antibody sandwich ELISA (SAS-ELISA) system. Our previous data suggest that this assay will be useful for the early diagnosis of AD, but its practical application to large-scale or longitudinal studies has been limited because of lack of a reliable calibration standard. In order to develop such a standard, we have now constructed a novel peptide using the multiple antigenic peptide (MAP) technique, where multiple epitopes of BAN50 were linked, via a spacer, to a branching lysine core. We show that the standard curve constructed from a 16-mer MAP covered the physiological range of signals obtained in the BAN50 SAS-ELISA from samples of human CSF, serum, and plasma. Furthermore, this 16-mer MAP is available in large quantities and is stable against freeze–thawing. We estimate that the signal per 1pM of this standard corresponds to 1.54–5.0pM of HMW Aβ oligomers. This MAP approach could also be used to provide an effective calibration standard for other SAS-ELISAs.
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