Latex agglutination assay
First Claim
1. A method for determining the presence of a first ligand in a sample suspected to contain the first ligand, comprising:
- providing a reagent system which comprises;
a plurality of particles which have the capacity to form multiple-particle aggregates and which bear on their surface a second ligand which is the same as or different than the first ligand; and
an amount of a receptor which is specific for the first ligand and the second ligand, wherein the amount of receptor is sufficient to prevent formation of multiple-particle aggregates in the absence of the first ligand;
forming a test mixture by contacting the reagent system with the sample;
passing the test mixture through a filter having apertures which are larger than the particles but smaller than the aggregates, thereby producing a filtrate; and
analyzing the filtrate to determine the presence of the particles, the presence of particles in the filtrate indicating the absence of the first ligand in the sample and the absence of particles in the filtrate indicating the presence of the first ligand in the sample.
3 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods for determining the presence of a first ligand, preferably a hapten, in a sample suspected to contain the first ligand are provided, along with reagent systems and apparatus suitable for performing the methods. The methods depend upon a color visualization indicating the presence or absence of the first ligand in the sample. Preferred methods comprise contacting the sample with a reagent system which comprises: (1) colored particles which bear on their surface a second ligand which may be the same as or different than the first ligand; and (2) an amount of a receptor which is specific for the first ligand and the second ligand, wherein the amount is sufficient to stabilize the particles. The methods further comprise passing the contacted sample and reagent system through a filter, and then analyzing the color of the filtrate. The presence of ligand in the sample is established where the color of the filtrate is substantially different from the color of the ligand-bearing particles.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method for determining the presence of a first ligand in a sample suspected to contain the first ligand, comprising:
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providing a reagent system which comprises; a plurality of particles which have the capacity to form multiple-particle aggregates and which bear on their surface a second ligand which is the same as or different than the first ligand; and an amount of a receptor which is specific for the first ligand and the second ligand, wherein the amount of receptor is sufficient to prevent formation of multiple-particle aggregates in the absence of the first ligand; forming a test mixture by contacting the reagent system with the sample; passing the test mixture through a filter having apertures which are larger than the particles but smaller than the aggregates, thereby producing a filtrate; and analyzing the filtrate to determine the presence of the particles, the presence of particles in the filtrate indicating the absence of the first ligand in the sample and the absence of particles in the filtrate indicating the presence of the first ligand in the sample. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification