Immunometric Antibody Sandwich Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay

The antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is the most commonly used assay for rapid and accurate detection of antigens. It displays greater sensitivity compared with the indirect ELISA and can be used to determine absolute antigen concentrations in unknown samples provided purified antigen standards are available, although it requires the use of two different antibodies. Briefly, wells are coated with antigen-specific capture antibody then incubated with samples containing unknown antigen. Washing removes unbound antigen and exogenous sample protein before incubation with a second antigen-specific detection antibody, washing, and reincubation with a reporter-labeled tertiary antibody. After tertiary antibody is washed off, substrate is added and hydrolysis is measured spectrophotometrically. The signal intensity is directly proportional to the concentration of the antigen in the test sample.