Development Of A Continuous Flow Immunosensor

The biosensor described below capitalizes on the specificity and reversibility of antibody-analyte interactions, and is designed to operate continuously. Detection of the analyte of interest relies on the specific displacement of labelled-analyte from the antibody binding site. When an aqueous sample containing the analyte is introduced into the buffer flow, the analyte competes for the analyte binding sites with the labelledanalyte already bound by the antibody. An amount of the labelled analyte proportional to the amount of the analyte present is displaced, enters the buffer flow, and is subsequently detected downstream. In the model system, radioisotopes and fluorophores were used as analyte labels in the development of a sensor capable of detecting small molecular weight analytes. Dinitrophenol @NP) was used as the analyte to construct a model system and could be detected at the nanomolar level. The assay does not require the introduction of exogenous reagents throughout the analysis of a sample. In addition, incubation of the sample in the detection column was not required since significant displacement of the labelled DNP-analyte occurred in continuous flow. Due to the wide range of specificities that antibodies can express, this system has the potential of being designed to detect many different analytes.