Biomarker Discovery, Quantitation, and Analysis with Multiplex Immunoassays

Scientists studying biomarkers associated with human diseases and drug responses commonly use targeted immunoassays for marker detection and quantitation. Challenges associated with conventional detection methods such as Western blotting and ELISAs include limitations imposed by small sample volume due to use of rodent models and the need for greater sensitivity than conventional test formats. The introduction of multiplex xMAP® technology (Luminex) that combines advanced fluidics, optics, and digital signal processing with microsphere technology has enabled multiplexed assay capabilities and enables acquisition of more data in less time than other bioassay formats, with comparable results to ELISA. Featuring a flexible, open-architecture design, xMAP can be configured to perform a wide variety of bioassays quickly, cost-effectively, and accurately. Recently, for example, scientists have applied xMAP technology to detection and expression of cytokine expression and secretion in lymphocyte samples from mouse and human sources, detecting over 20 different cytokines in samples smaller than 50 uL. This technology has also allowed assessment of cytokine expression in human diseases, before and after immunization and in the healthy general population, as well as the study of various mouse models of autoimmune diseases. This multiplexed cytokine assay allows generation of large amounts of data and therefore new analyses, which result in new insights into the roles of cytokines in health and disease. In this webinar, investigators will describe how Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Cytokine Human 30-Plex Panel for the Luminex platform, was used to demonstrate pharmacological inhibition of G protein-coupled estrogen receptor (GPER) as measured by a decrease in pro-inflammatory cytokines. Scientists will also describe how ongoing multiplex assay development for cancer-specific cytokine and autoantibody immunoassays may enable differentiation of lung cancer subtypes in patients.