A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
What Digital Immunoassays Can Learn from Ambient Analyte Theory: A Perspective
Authors: Gorris Hans H, Soukka Tero
Publisher: Amer Chemical Soc
Publication year: 2022
Journal: Analytical Chemistry
Journal name in source: ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
Journal acronym: ANAL CHEM
Volume: 94
Issue: 16
First page : 6073
Last page: 6083
Number of pages: 11
ISSN: 0003-2700
eISSN: 1520-6882
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.1c05591(external)
Web address : https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.analchem.1c05591(external)
Abstract
Immunoassays are important tools for clinical diagnosis as well as environmental and food analysis because they enable highly sensitive and quantitative measurements of analyte concentrations. In the 1980s, Roger Ekins suggested to improve the sensitivity of immunoassays by employing microspot assays, which are carried out under ambient analyte conditions and do not change the bulk analyte concentration of a sample during a measurement. More recently, the measurement of single analyte molecules has additionally attracted wide research interest. Although the ability to detect a single analyte molecule is not synonymous with the highest analytical sensitivity, single-molecule detection makes new routes accessible to avoiding background noise. This perspective follows the development of solid-phase immunoassays from the design of label techniques to single-molecule (digital) assays against the backdrop of Ekins's fundamental work on immunoassay theory. The essential aspects of both ambient analyte and digital assay approaches are presented as a guideline to finding a balance between the speed, sensitivity, and precision of immunoassays.
Immunoassays are important tools for clinical diagnosis as well as environmental and food analysis because they enable highly sensitive and quantitative measurements of analyte concentrations. In the 1980s, Roger Ekins suggested to improve the sensitivity of immunoassays by employing microspot assays, which are carried out under ambient analyte conditions and do not change the bulk analyte concentration of a sample during a measurement. More recently, the measurement of single analyte molecules has additionally attracted wide research interest. Although the ability to detect a single analyte molecule is not synonymous with the highest analytical sensitivity, single-molecule detection makes new routes accessible to avoiding background noise. This perspective follows the development of solid-phase immunoassays from the design of label techniques to single-molecule (digital) assays against the backdrop of Ekins's fundamental work on immunoassay theory. The essential aspects of both ambient analyte and digital assay approaches are presented as a guideline to finding a balance between the speed, sensitivity, and precision of immunoassays.
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