New tool saves time by assessing multiple cytokines

PBL InterferonSource, a US supplier of interferon products, assay services and consultancy to the life sciences industry, has introduced a cytokine multiplexing tool that is able to assess multiple cytokines, allowing drug discovery and clinical researchers to spend more time interpreting data and less time accumulating data.

According to the company, the main aim of the Quansys Q-Plex Cytokine Multiplex ELISA array is to provide researchers of infectious diseases and autoimmunity with a way of predicting clinical outcomes based on several cytokine and growth factor biomarkers. These include: assessment of cytokine profiles at various points throughout the course of disease; correlation of cytokine profile alterations with patient responses to therapies; and determination of drugs" off-target effects.

Developed by Quansys Biosciences, the kits are currently available exclusively through PBL InterferonSource internationally.

The Q-Plex tests contain up to 16 distinct capture antibodies in each well of a 96-well plate. Up to 84 samples can be assayed for all 16 unique cytokines in less than two-and-a-half hours.

The current Q-Plex products include six human and four mouse cytokine arrays that require less than 30µl of sample. The company says they detect cytokines with a lower limit of detection (LLOD) from 30pg/ml to less than 1pg/ml and exhibit low percentage assay variability. They are also compatible with serum, plasma, cell culture supernatant, homogenates, lysates, nasal lavage, tears and urine.

PBL InterferonSource also plans to introduce early this year human interferon-based multiplex ELISA arrays that can simultaneously quantify the levels of Type I, II and III human interferons in a single sample.