Description
Principle of the assay: This assay employs a two-site sandwich ELISA to quantitative NGF in Human serum, plasma. An antibody specific for NGF has been pre-coated onto a microplate. Standards and samples are pipetted into the wells and any NGF present is bound by the immobilized antibody. After removing any unbound substances, a biotin - conjugated antibody specific for NGF is added to the wells. After washing, Streptavidin conjugated Horseradish Peroxidase (HRP) is added to the wells. Following a wash to remove any unbound avidin-enzyme reagent, a substrate solution is added to the wells and color develops in proportion to the amount of NGF bound in the initial step. The color development is stopped and the intensity of the color is measured.
Background: Nerve growth factor (NGF) is a naturally occurring molecule in the body which stimulates the growth and differentiation of the sympathetic and certain sensory nerves. NGF is a protein that consists of 3 types of polypeptide chains -- alpha, beta and gamma -- that interact to form the protein. The NGF beta chain (NGFB) is solely responsible for the nerve growth stimulating activity of NGF. The NGFB gene is in chromosome band 1p22. An ointment containing NGF has been reported to help heal bedsores (decubiti).This complex contains 2 identical 118-amino acid beta-chains, which are solely responsible for nerve growth stimulating activity of NGF. Human DNA fragments coding for NGF were identified by Zabel et al. (1984) using a mouse submaxillary cDNA probe