Quantifying Myeloperoxidase-DNA and Neutrophil Elastase-DNA Complexes from Neutrophil Extracellular Traps by Using a Modified Sandwich ELISA

Summary

We present a protocol for a modified sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique to quantitatively measure two components of neutrophil extracellular trap remnants, myeloperoxidase conjugated-DNA and neutrophil elastase conjugated-DNA complexes,derived from activated neutrophils.

Abstract

Certain stimuli, such as microorganisms, cause neutrophils to release neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), which are basically web-like structures composed of DNA with granule proteins, such as myeloperoxidase (MPO) and neutrophil elastase (NE), and cytoplasmic and cytoskeletal proteins. Although interest in NETs has increased recently, no sensitive, reliable assay method is available for measuring NETs in clinical settings. This article describes a modified sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to quantitatively measure two components of circulating NETs, MPO-DNA and NE-DNA complexes, which are specific components of NETs and are released into the extracellular space as breakdown products of NETs. The assay uses specific monoclonal antibodies for MPO or NE as the capture antibodies and a DNA-specific detection antibody. MPO or NE binds to one site of the capture antibody during the initial incubation of samples containing MPO-DNA or NE-DNA complexes. This assay shows good linearity and high inter-assay and intra-assay precision. We used it in 16 patients with COVID-19 with accompanying acute respiratory distress syndrome and found that the plasma concentrations of MPO-DNA and NE-DNA were significantly higher than in the plasma obtained from healthy controls. This detection assay is a reliable, highly sensitive, and useful method for investigating the characteristics of NETs in human plasma and culture supernatants.

Introduction

This article outlines a method to quantify neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation in biological fluids by using sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect complexes of myeloperoxidase (MPO) and neutrophil elastase (NE) with DNA^1,2. NETs are composed of a DNA backbone decorated with antimicrobial proteases originating from neutrophil granules^3,4. Both MPO-DNA and NE-DNA complexes are important and specific components of NETs and are released into the extracellular space as breakdown products of NETs^3....

Protocol

This study was conducted in conformity with the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the institutional review boards of Aichi Medical University (2017-H341, 2019-H137). Written informed consent was obtained from each participant.

1. Reagent preparation

NOTE: To perform the sandwich ELISA assay, the reagents are prepared as described below.

1. Coating buffer:
   1. To make a 0.1 mol/L carbonate-bicarbonate buffer, weigh 10.6 g of anhydrous sodium carbonate (molecular weight, 106 g/mol) and 8.4 g of sodium bicarbonate (molecular weight, 84 g/mol).
   2. Add it to approxim....

Results

This method used a sandwich ELISA with anti-MPO, anti-NE, and anti-DNA monoclonal antibodies to measure MPO-associated and NE-associated DNA (Figure 1). In this method, the wells of a microtiter plate were coated with an MPO-specific or NE-specific monoclonal antibody to capture DNA-associated MPO and DNA-associated NE, as well as non-DNA-associated MPO and NE. To calculate the intra-assay coefficient of variability (CV), duplicate measurements were performed within the same plate for 30 sam.......

Discussion

We have described a sandwich ELISA method in which MPO or NE binds to one site of the capture antibody during the initial incubation of samples containing MPO-DNA or NE-DNA complexes. After washing, the "sandwich" is completed by incubating the samples with a peroxidase-associated anti-DNA monoclonal antibody. After the removal of unbound secondary antibody, the bound peroxidase conjugate is detected by the addition of a chromogenic ABTS peroxidase substrate, which yields a soluble end-product that can be read sp.......

Materials

List of materials used in this article

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
1-Step Polymorphs	Accurate Chemical and Scientific Corporation	AN221725	Isolation of PMN's from human blood.
96-well microtiter plate	Thermo Fisher Scientific	467466	flat bottom
ABTS buffer solution	Sigma-Aldrich Merck	11 204 530 001	Contains sodium perborate, citric acid, and disodium hydrogen phosphate.
ABTS tablets	Sigma-Aldrich Merck	11 204 521 001	Each tablet contains 5 mg ABTS substrate and 60 mg vehicle substances.
Adhesive plastic cover, Axygen	Thermo Fisher Scientific	14222348
Anti-MPO antibody	Sigma-Aldrich Merck	07-496-I	Store at 2-8 °C. stable for 1 year. Host species is rabbit.
Anti-NE antibody, clone AHN-10	Sigma-Aldrich Merck	MABS461	Store at 2-8 °C. stable for 1 year. Host species is mouse.
Bovine serum albumin	Biomedical Science	BR-220700081	Albumin from bovine fraction V. Store at 2–8 °C. stable for 2 year.
DNase I	New England BioLabs	M0303M	Store at -20 °C
IgG, rabbit, Isotype Control	GENETEX, Inc.	GTX35035	Store as concentrated solution at 2–8 °C.
IgG1, mouse Isotype Control, clone Ci4	Merck	MABC002	Store as concentrated solution at 2–8 °C.
Lithium heparin blood collection tube	Becton Dickinson and Company
Microplate mixer	As one corporation	NS-P
Microplate Reader	Molecular Devices	SpectraMax 190	Any microplate plate reader capable of reading wavelengths from 405–490 nm can use.
Microplate reader application	Molecular Devices	SoftMax pro
Peroxidase-conjugated anti-DNA antibody, Cell death Detection ELISA	Roche Diagnostics	1154467500	bottle 2. Store at 2–8 °C. stable for 1 year.
Phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate	Sigma-Aldrich Merck	P8139	Activation of PMN's from human blood.
Phosphate buffered solution	Takara Bio	T9181	Store at room temperature. Stable for 6 months.
SigmaPlot v14.5	Systat Software Inc. San Jose, CA, USA
Sodium azide	Fujifilm Wako Chemicals	190-14901	Store at room temperature.
t-Octylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol, Polyethylene glycol tert-octylphenyl ether	Fujifilm Wako Chemicals	9002-93-1	Store at room temperature.