Enzyme linked immunoassay commonly known as ELISA allows for rapid screening and quantification of the presence of an antigen in a sample. The principle guiding ELISA is as follows; a non-specific protein is used to wash a polystyrene plate inorder to block other proteins introduced in subsequent steps during the assay. The polystyrene is then treated with a solution which has the primary antibody. This is usually an antibody against the protein of interest. The unbound antibody is washed away and the surface is treated with a solution containing antibodies against the primary antibody.
These secondary antibodies have been linked to an enzyme that catalyses a reaction that forms a coloured product. The unbound secondary antibody is washed away, and the substrate of the antibody-linked enzyme is added.
Product formation (which is seen as colour intensity) is proportional to the concentration of the protein of interest in the sample.
Enzyme linked immunoassay is useful in the clinical laboratory for the diagnosis of Hepatitis B surface antigen, Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Herpes Simplex virus. Hepatitis is a liver disease that is associated with elevated levels of both direct (conjugated) and indirect plasma bilirubin. It is accompanied by jaundice. Human Immunodeficiency Virus results in Acquired Immune Defeciency Syndrome (AIDS).It results from opportunistic infections and ultimately results in death. Virologists and Immunologists are carrying out detailed research in the discovery of HIV vaccine, a cure to this global pandemic.
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