Competition assays

Most modem RJAs utilize a competitive assay format (Fig. 2) in which radiolabled antigen, Ag, competes with unlabeled antigen, Ag, in a sample for binding to the antibody. Ah. The free antigens are then separated from the antigen—antibody complexes, and the amount of radioactivity in the... 

This same experimental approach can be used to determine the appHcabiUty of the aDAS—AP to a competitive assay for DAS. As shown in Eigure 6, increasing amounts of free DAS were used to define the 50% inhibition level (ID q) of DAS for binding of two aDAS—AP conjugates to immobilized DAS. This approach was also used to determine the sensitivity of an EIA, as well as the specificity of the assay, as shown in Table 2. Increasing amounts of trichothecene mycotoxins closely related to DAS were added to microtiter plate wells containing a constant amount of prereacted DAS—aDAS—AP. After 30 min, excess toxin and any free toxin—aDAS—AP were washed out, and substrate was added. Quantification of the color produced was directly related to the abihty of the added toxin to displace aDAS—AP from the immobilized DAS, which is an indication that the aDAS also has an avidity for that toxin. 

Fig. 13. General protocol for heterogeneous enzyme immunoassay preparation of reagent cuvettes by coating Ab, competitive assay format, and sandwich assay format. (Reprinted with permission from W. R. Heineman and H. B. Halsall, Anal. Chem, 1985, 57, 1321A. Copyright 1985, American Chemical Society)...

Another commonly used ELISA format is the immobilized antibody assay or direct competitive assay (Eigure 3). The primary anti-analyte antibody is immobilized on the solid phase and the analyte competes with a known amount of enzyme-labeled hapten for binding sites on the immobilized antibody. Eirst, the anti-analyte antibody is adsorbed on the microtiter plate wells. In the competition step, the analyte and enzyme-labeled hapten are added to microtiter plate wells and unbound materials are subsequently washed out. The enzyme substrate is then added for color production. Similarly to indirect competitive immunoassay, absorption is inversely proportional to the concentration of analyte. The direct competitive ELISA format is commonly used in commercial immunoassay test kits. 

The LANCE cAMP assay is a competitive assay in which cAMP produced by the cells competes with fluorescent-labeled acceptor cAMP for a cryptate tagged donor antibody. The principal of the assay is shown in Fig. 6. On the left strepta-vidin conjugated Europium binds to biotinylated cAMP. An antibody labeled with the fluorescent dye Alexa binds to the cAMP, bringing the donor and acceptor into close proximity, and energy transfer occurs. When the cell releases cAMP, it competes with the biotin-labeled cAMP for the antibody, and a signal decrease is observed. In the TR-FRET assay the antibody is directly labeled with either Eu or Tb. In this format an increase in cAMP also causes a decrease in signal. 

Fig. I Dependence of response of anisotropy sensor on analyte concentration in direct and competition assays (a) and this dependence for direct assay at different correlations between cp and xF (b)...

Competition Assays The Compound with the Higher Potential to Form H-Bonds Inhibits the Compound with the Lower Potential... 

The calcein-AM assay [82-84] and cytotoxicity assays (e.g., performed with doxorubicin) [77, 78] are both basically competition assays. The accumulation of a primary substrate (e.g., calcein-AM or doxorubicin) in the cytosol of living cells is measured after addition of a second substrate (also called modifier or reverser) that reduces the efflux of the primary substrate. In the case of the calcein-AM assay, the primary substrate, calcein-AM, is hydrolyzed as soon as it reaches the cytosol, and the highly fluorescent hydrolysis product (calcein) can be determined using fluorescence spectroscopy. The more effective the reversal agent, the stronger is the increase in calcein fluorescence. Data can be quantified in terms of inhibitory constants, IQ, of the reversal agent. 

Based on IgG-bearing beads, a chemiluminescent immuno-biochip has been also realized for the model detection of human IgG. Biotin-labeled antihuman IgG were used in a competitive assay, in conjunction with peroxidase labelled streptavidin59. In that case, the planar glassy carbon electrode served only as a support for the sensing layer since the light signal came from the biocatalytic activity of horseradish peroxidase. Free antigen could then be detected with a detection limit of 25 pg (108 molecules) and up to 15 ng. 

There are also examples of non-competitive assays in the literature for analyzing different clinically important species. For example, an immunosensor for the pathogenic bacterium Salmonella typhi and for bacterial toxins from pathogenic Vibrio chol-erae [21-23],... 

The most common use of protein microarrays is in immunoassays. In particular, antibody-based immunoassays are the main stream of diagnostic assays due to their specificity. The assay usually runs in a multiplexed mode where the antibodies or other capture agents are immobilized and then exposed to a biological sample. There are four immunoassay formats direct binding, sandwich (ELISA), competitive, and displacement. Direct-binding and sandwich assays are the most common. There are some reports on the use of competitive assays and displacement assays, which are usually associated with high surface area/volume systems [72-76],... 

We have developed chemiluminescent immunoenzymatic assays for (3-ago-nist drugs in the 96-well-microtiter-plate format. Such competitive assays have been used for determination of clenbuterol and of the overall content of p-agonist drugs in the sample. They matched the standard requirements of precision and accuracy, and were more sensitive compared to the conventional colorimetric methods. Moreover, CL detection was very rapid, making these assays suitable for screening analysis. 

A fiber optic immunosensor (FOI) has also been reported for detection of PCBs in Aroclors [204]. The quartz fiber surface is coated with PAbs against PCBs and the competitive assay takes place using as fluorescent tracer, an analog of the analyte coupled to 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxybutyrate (TCPB) on the Ab-coated fiber. The LOD achieved is around 10 pg L L... 

Fig. 37 (a) QD-based sensing of cocaine by the formation of a cocaine-aptamer supramolecular structure that triggers FRET and (b) time-dependent luminescence spectra of the system in the presence of cocaine. The inset shows a calibration curve for variable concentrations of cocaine and a fixed so observation time of 15 min. (c) Schematic of the FRET-based TNT sensor and (d) increase of the QD luminescence upon addition of TNT in the competitive assay format. (Reprinted with permission from [220, 221], Copyright 2009 Royal Society of Chemistry and 2005 American Chemical Society)... 

Fig. 12 Cartoon representing two versions of a kinase assay, (a) The tum-off version is a direct assay the extent of phosphorylation of the substrate is reflected in the binding of the quencher to the bead and hence to the quenching [88]. (b) The tum-on version is a competition assay increased phosphorylation of the substrate leads to it competing with the quencher in binding to the beads, and hence to increased emission [44]. Emissive polymers are represented by green lines quenched polymers by grey lines...

The most common of these systems is the enzyme-multiplied immunoassay technique or EMIT, which is particularly suited to the measurement of small molecules (haptens) such as drugs. EMIT is a trade mark of the Syva Corporation of Palo Alto, California. Although it does not involve the separation of bound fraction from free it is nevertheless a competitive assay system. The antigen is labelled with an enzyme in such a way that the enzyme retains its catalytic activity. When the antigen binds to the antibody the enzyme becomes inhibited, probably by an induced conformational change or by steric hindrance of the enzyme active site (Figure 7.15). 

Figure 14.4. Diagram of three basic immunoassay formats, (a) Common competitive format (b) competitive assay with immobilized antigens bound to a carrier protein (immunometric assay) (c) two-site immunometric assays. Haptenic analytes are indicated as triangles, whereas larger-molecular-weight analytes are shown as teardrop shapes. Conjugated fluorescent probes are denoted by the letter "F. ...

Since local motions of flexible protein domains can randomize the emission dipoles in a manner that does not reflect the overall tumbling time of the entire protein, and since there is an apparent lack of fluorophores with the appropriate properties for larger analytes, most FPIAs are useful only for determination of relatively low-molecular-weight analytes. Nevertheless, a few studies of larger-molecular-weight analytes have been reported. A competitive assay for human... 

The Abbott IMx , a dedicated commercial immunoassay analyzer that employs FPIAs for small molecules, can also determine larger analytes by a fluorescence-based microparticle capture enzyme immunoassay (MEIA).(44) In this system, antibody-coated0.47- mlatexparticles are used for both sandwich and competitive assays, and alkaline phosphatase conjugates that bind to the particles cleave 4-methylumbelliferyl phosphate to generate the fluorophore. 

The high molar absorptivities and quantum yields of the large protein fluorophore phycoerythrin (240,000 Da) have been exploited in energy transfer assays. Phyco-erythrin has been used as both donor and acceptor, with several bound antigen molecules per phycoerythrin molecule/86,94) The usefulness of BPE is indicated in competitive assays for human IgG that use fluorescein-labeled antibody as donor to... 

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is based on the specific reaction between an antibody and an antigen. One of the reagents in the reaction is labeled with an enzyme that generates a colorimetric product that can be measured with a spectrophotometric device. The color intensity correlates with the concentration of specific antibody and the respective antigen. The reaction can be formatted in various ways in a multiwell plate (microtiter plate) with the common formats being the sandwich assay, the competitive assay, and the direct assay. (See Figure 11.1.)... 

The competitive assay is another format used to quantitate an analyte. An unlabeled analyte competes with a labeled analyte (enzyme-conjugated molecule) for binding to a specific capture antibody (Figure 11.1c). 

A competitive assay could also be used for quantitation. In a competitive assay, unlabeled antigen competes for labeled antigen. Examples include ELISAs for vaccine product antigens, such as recombinant proteins from viruses, or nonvaccine antigens such as growth factors or cytokines. 

Huang, X., Fluorescence polarization competition assay the range of resolvable inhibitor potency is limited by the affinity of the fluorescent ligand, /. Biomol. Screen., 8, 34,2003. 

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