A ROBOTIC IMMUNOASSAY SYSTEM FOR DETERGENT ENZYMES

A robotic system for performing enzyme immunoassays was developed and evaluated. A Tecan RSP Model 5051 liquid handling system was equipped to refrigerate samples and their corresponding immunochemical reagents and to heat four microwell plates during the enzyme immunoassay. A pr ogram was developed using RSP Integrator AMI software (version 7.30) t o control robotic arm position, liquid handling, valve control, and ti ming. Using this automated system, a two-site enzyme immunoassay for 3 6 air samples and 4 controls was performed for four enzymes simultaneo usly in 5.5 h with an average throughput time of approximately 2 min p er sample. These assays achieved a detection limit of 0.2 ng/ml and re sponse ranges of 0.2-20 ng/ml. The intra- and inter-assay reproducibil ity were <6% CV and the accuracy was generally +/- 2%. Assay character istics for the automated system were comparable to a manual method. Th e robotic enzyme immunoassay provides several advantages over the enzy me activity assays regarding ability to distinguish two or more enzyme s in a single air sample and one assay format for several enzymes. Thi s automated system was demonstrated to be highly reliable and reproduc ible with a significant reduction in the number of steps and attended time for a technician.