Quantitation of low abundant soluble biomarkers using high sensitivity Single Molecule Counting technology.

Quantitation of biomarkers in biofluids plays a central role in basic research to management of patient care and is routinely used in clinical laboratories and academic institutions. Standard immunoassays, such as an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), have provided understanding of both normal and pathological processes for many decades. However, in more recent decades, new immunoassay technologies have uncovered numerous analytes in blood that were once undetectable using traditional ELISAs. To meet this new challenge for quantifying low abundant proteins in biofluids, Single Molecule Counting (SMC™) technology was developed. This new technology is a combination of improvements to both the immunoassay procedure as well as the instrument. The aim of this article is to introduce the new SMCxPRO™ instrument, xPRO Acquisition and Analysis software, and the high sensitivity immunoassay kits validated on this instrument for the detection of low abundant proteins in biofluids, such as serum and plasma. Using this new technology platform, biomarkers that were once unquantifiable can now be quantitated in both normal and diseased biofluids.