Agglutination-PCR (ADAP) is an ultrasensitive solution-phase method for detecting
antibodies. Antibodies bind to and
agglutinate synthetic
antigen
In immunology, an antigen (Ag) is a molecule or molecular structure or any foreign particulate matter or a pollen grain that can bind to a specific antibody or T-cell receptor. The presence of antigens in the body may trigger an immune respons ...
–
DNA conjugates, enabling ligation of the DNA strands and subsequent quantification by
qPCR
A real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR, or qPCR) is a laboratory technique of molecular biology based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). It monitors the amplification of a targeted DNA molecule during the PCR (i.e., in real ...
. Like other Immuno-PCR (IPCR) detection methods ADAP combines the specificity of antibody-antigen recognition and the sensitivity of PCR. ADAP detects zepto- to attomoles of antibodies in 2 μL of sample with a dynamic range spanning 5–6 orders of magnitude. For example, ADAP allows to detect anti-thyroglobulin autoantibodies from human patient plasma with a 1000-fold increased sensitivity over an FDA-approved radioimmunoassay. ADAP also allows to simultaneously detect multiple antibodies in one experiment, much more than
ELISA
The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (, ) is a commonly used analytical biochemistry assay, first described by Eva Engvall and Peter Perlmann in 1971. The assay uses a solid-phase type of enzyme immunoassay (EIA) to detect the presen ...
or
radioimmunoassay
A radioimmunoassay (RIA) is an immunoassay that uses radiolabeled molecules in a stepwise formation of immune complexes. A RIA is a very sensitive in vitro assay technique used to measure concentrations of substances, usually measuring antigen conc ...
.
The study published in the ''
ACS Central Science'' journal mentioned that this testing method is 10,000 times more effective than the existing diagnostic techniques.
Another advantage of ADAP method is the simplicity. It can be adapted to such a cheap equipment as, for example, SlipChip.
It does not require complex and expensive equipment, it does not require working with hazardous radioactive reagents.
References
{{Immunologic techniques and tests
Immunologic tests