STARBURST(TM) DENDRIMERS - ENHANCED PERFORMANCE AND FLEXIBILITY FOR IMMUNOASSAYS

Starburst(TM) dendrimers are novel, water-soluble polymeric materials, with a well-defined composition and structure. In our application, we used dendrimers composed of poly(amidoamine) groups to which we coupl ed several specific antibodies, to investigate potential formats based on radial partition immunoassay. The coupled antibodies have retained their stability and immunological binding after coupling, both in sol ution and when immobilized onto a solid support. On the basis of our f easibility studies with model systems, we conclude that immunoassays c an be developed with performance equivalent to or better than that in many established systems. By application of a mixture of the dendrimer -coupled antibody and the analyte of interest to the solid phase, we h ave investigated the performance characteristics of solution-phase imm unoassays. Our experiments demonstrate enhanced sensitivity for creati ne kinase MB isoenzyme (CKMB), thyrotropin, and myoglobin assays and r educed instrumental analysis time for the CKMB assay.