Purification, Partial Characterization, and Immunoassay of Vitellogenin from Marbled Sole (Limanda yokohamae)

Vitellogenin (VTG) was purified from the blood plasma of estradiol-17$\beta$ ($E_2$)-treated male marbled sole (Limanda yokohamae) using gel filtration and anion exchange chromatography. The purity of the marbled sole VTG (msVTG) was confirmed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and N-terminal amino acid sequencing. The purified msVTG was used to produce monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies in mice and rabbits, respectively, and the specificity of the polyclonal antisera for msVTG was confirmed by Western blot analysis. The antibodies cross­reacted with a protein of molecular mass approximately 160 kDa in the plasma samples of mature female marbled sole. No cross-reactivity was observed with the plasma of male fish. A direct non-competitive sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was developed using the monoclonal anti-msVTG and polyclonal anti-msVTG antibodies, with purified msVTG as the standard protein. The values of the intra- and inter-assay variations were within the ranges of $8.l-9.8\%$ and $8.5-12.2\%$, respectively. The sensitivity was about 0.3 ng/mL. Serial dilutions of plasma from mature female sole reacted with the msVTG-antibodies in the sandwich ELISA, whereas the plasma from male fish did not. The results indicate that the maturation status of female marbled sole can be identified using a sandwich ELISA for msVTG.