CHEMILUMINESCENT DETECTION IN HIGH-VOLUME LIGAND-BINDER ASSAYS

The use of light-producing chemical reactions for quantitative detecti on in ligand-binder assays is a rapidly growing field, Automated immun oassay analyzers from several different manufacturers are in commercia l use and still others are in development, The technical demands of th ese assay markets requires detection technologies which are highly sen sitive, not overly prone to interferences, robust and simple to use, C hemiluminescent processes possess the necessary sensitivity characteri stics and thus are well suited for these demanding applications, Lumin escent processes can be categorized broadly as chemiluminescent reacti ons involving purely chemical reactions using compounds prepared in th e laboratory and usually involving a highly oxidized species, biolumin escent reactions arising from compounds originating in a living organi sm, and electrochemiluminescent reactions involving the use of electri cal current to produce a light-emitting species, Assays can utilize an enzyme or chemical catalyst as a label or can use the chemiluminescen t compound directly as a label, Most assays are heterogeneous and requ ire separation of bound from unbound label, Homogeneous assays which r equire that the light-producing reaction be modulated by binding of th e ligand to its receptor are more difficult to develop but offer advan tages in assay simplification.