Excellent Cytokine Multiplex Assay

July 02, 2020

Emory University
Pediatrics
Graduate Student

Overall

Quality of Results

Ease-of-Optimization

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Company:

Meso Scale Discovery

Product Name:

U-PLEX Cytokine Multiplex Assay

Catalog Number:

K15067L-2

The Meso Scale platform is designed for multiplex cytokine quantification in numerous types of biological samples. I used it to compare the concentration of 20 cytokines in plasma and BAL fluid from cystic fibrosis patients

Experimental Design and Results Summary

Application

Cytokine quantification in biological samples

Starting Material

Debris-free supernatant of plasma and BAL fluid

Tips

This assay has an impressive detection range spanning ~5 logs depending on the particular analyte. It is extremely sensitive and can detect dilute analytes, but highly concentrated samples probably require dilution

Results Summary

My custom assay included 2 plates, each of which measures 10 inflammatory cytokines (20 targets in total). Although there significant variation in the concentration of these different cytokines, the assay is able to measure them all within the bounds of the standard curve. Attached image shows the 10 standard curves from one of the plates

Image Gallery

Summary

The Good

Excellent dynamic range and highly sensitive. Easy to perform and obtains large amount of data from 1 assay, equivalent to 10 assay on each plate

The Bad

Expensive, but this is because it packs 10 ELISAs onto 1 plate so cost efficiency is good. A high degree of precision is required for setting up and performing the assay

The Bottom Line

The meso scale U-PLEX assays allow you to customize a panel from a wide selection of cytokines, available for multiple species. Although a large up front cost, it is worth it for the huge dynamic range of measurement and high sensitivity. This makes it the perfect platform for highly variable samples like BAL which often have considerable variability between different cytokines. New targets are also routinely added to the inventory

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