Binding assays in heterogeneous media using a flow injection system with an expanded micro-bed adsorption column

Competitive binding assays have been performed in flow injection systems. To further increase the versatility of the system, and to enable it to deal with samples containing particulate matter, the adsorption step was designed as an expanded bed column. Immunochemical quantification of human serum albumin was chosen as a model system to use for the development of the technology. A competitive ELISA was set up using peroxidase labelled HSA as competing ligand. The introduction of the expanded bed immunosorption column made the system tolerant to samples containing suspended particulate matter. The analytical outcome is very similar to that from the packed bed system even though more time is required for each assay cycle. The capability of the system was tested by addition of increasing amounts of yeast cells. The results clearly indicate that the system is suitable e.g. for process monitoring of fermentations.