Immuno-polymerase chain reaction system for antigen detection
AssigneeThe Regents of the University of California
InventorsTakeshi Sano, Charles R. Cantor, Cassandra L. Smith
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Abstract
A novel system and method for sensitive antigen detection. The system utilizes immuno-polymerase chain reaction in which a specific biotinylated nucleic acid molecule is used as the marker. The biotinylated marker is attached to antigen-antibody complex through a streptavidin-protein A chimeric protein that possesses tight and specific binding affinity both for biotin and immunoglobulin G. A segment of the attached biotinylated marker is amplified by polymerase chain reactions with appropriate primers and the polymerase chain reaction products are detected by agarose gel electrophoresis. The method can detect any antigen and has a greater sensitivity than any existing antigen detection system.
Claims14
A method for detecting a rare ligand in a sample, said method comprising steps:
- (1) contacting said sample with a conjugate comprising a non-nucleic acid receptor capable of specifically binding said rare ligand and a nucleic acid marker comprising a predetermined nucleotide sequence to form a specifically bound complex of said rare ligand and said conjugate;
- (2) specifically detecting the presence of said nucleic acid maker of said complex,
- wherein the presence of said nucleic acid marker indicates the presence of said rare ligand in said sample.
A method for detecting a ligand in a sample, said method comprising steps:
- (1) contacting a sample comprising a ligand with a conjugate comprising a non-nucleic acid receptor capable of specifically binding said ligand and a nucleic acid marker comprising a predetermined nucleotide sequence to form a specifically bound complex of said ligand and said conjugate, wherein said receptor is an antibody and said ligand is an antigen or hapten;
- (2) specifically detecting the presence or absence of said nucleic acid marker of said complex, wherein said specifically detecting step comprises amplifying said nucleic acid marker in a polymerase chain reaction,
- wherein the presence of said nucleic acid marker indicates the presence of said ligand in said sample.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.