ERIC Number: EJ1003236
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Dec
Pages: 4
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0021-9584
EISSN: N/A
A Direct, Competitive Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) as a Quantitative Technique for Small Molecules
Powers, Jennifer L.; Rippe, Karen Duda; Imarhia, Kelly; Swift, Aileen; Scholten, Melanie; Islam, Naina
Journal of Chemical Education, v89 n12 p1587-1590 Dec 2012
ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) is a widely used technique with applications in disease diagnosis, detection of contaminated foods, and screening for drugs of abuse or environmental contaminants. However, published protocols with a focus on quantitative detection of small molecules designed for teaching laboratories are limited. A competitive, direct ELISA used to detect and quantify levels of digoxin, a cardiac glycoside, is described. Unique features of this lab include collecting data in quadruplicate followed by statistical analysis of replicates using a Q-test. Use of a microplate reader for measuring absorbances makes data collection extremely quick. Students plot their average absorbance versus log concentration digoxin and fit data to a third- or fourth-order polynomial. They also examine the maximum and minimum absorbance for the assay, determine the region of linearity, and then fit the linear region to a straight-line equation that can be used to determine the concentration of an unknown. The experiment can be completed in a 3-h period and is suitable for upper-level biochemistry, chemistry, and biology students. Although students find understanding a competitive ELISA more challenging than some other experiments, they enjoy learning about this commonly used laboratory technique. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)
Descriptors: Biochemistry, Science Laboratories, Science Instruction, College Science, Undergraduate Study, Spectroscopy, Biology, Molecular Structure, Scientific Concepts
Division of Chemical Education, Inc and ACS Publications Division of the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 800-227-5558; Tel: 202-872-4600; e-mail: eic@jce.acs.org; Web site: http://pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A