Synthesis of new hydrophilic microspheres: optimized carriers for microparticle-enhanced nephelometric immunoassays.

To optimize antigen-antibody reactions, we have synthesized chemically well-defined hydrophilic microspheres. Proteins or haptens were covalently linked to these carriers. When the microsphere conjugates were agglutinated by the corresponding antiserum, the size of the complex artificially increased during the immunological reaction. After optimizing various parameters such as the hydrophilic character, repulsion charges, and amount of antigen coupled to the microspheres, we developed a rapid and sensitive immunoassay based on laser light scattering by the complexes.