Luminex xMAP Multiplexing Technology
The rapidly growing knowledge base in drug discovery and protein research has placed increased pressure on researchers to quickly gain a greater understanding of protein-protein interactions, cell signaling pathways and markers of metabolic processes. Increasingly, this information is difficult or impractical to obtain using traditional “singleplex” protein detection methods, such as ELISA or Western blotting. Consequently, several emerging technologies have been introduced that offer “multiplex” detection of proteins from a single biological sample.MILLIPLEX MAP is based on the Luminex xMAP technology — one of the fastest growing and most respected multiplex technologies offering applications throughout the life-sciences, including clinical diagnostics.
Systems using xMAP technology perform a variety of bioassays including immunoassays on the surface of fluorescent-coded beads known as microspheres, which are then read in a compact analyzer. Using two lasers and high-speed digital-signal processors, the analyzer reads signals on each individual microsphere particle. The capability of adding multiple conjugated beads to each sample results in the ability to obtain multiple results from each sample. Open-architecture xMAP technology enables multiplexing of many types of bioassays reducing time, labor and costs over traditional methods.
