Multiplex Technology for Biomarker Immunoassays

Abstract

The simultaneous measurement of different substances from a single sample is an emerging area for achieving efficient and high-throughput detection in several applications. Although immunoanalytical techniques are established and advantageous over alternative screening analytical platforms, one of the challenges for immunoassays is multiplexing. While ELISA is still commonly used to characterise a single analyte, laboratories and organisations are moving towards multiplex immunoassays. The validation of novel biomarkers and their amalgamation into multiplex immunoassays confers the prospects of simultaneous measurement of multiple analytes in a single sample, thereby minimising cost, time and sample. Therefore, the technological advancement in clinical sciences is helpful in the identification of analytes or biomarkers in test samples. However, the analytical bioanalysers are expensive and capable of detecting only a small amount or type of analytes. The simultaneous measurement of different substances from a single sample called multiplexing has become increasingly important for the quantification of pathological or toxicological samples. Although multiplex assays have many advantages over conventional assays, there are also problems that may cause apprehension among clinicians and researchers. Hence, many challenges still remain for these multiplexing systems which are at early stages of development.

Recent Advances in Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) Technology for Detecting Ovarian Cancer Biomarkers

“…A challenge in biomarker verification/validation lies in target cohort selection and the development of suitable platforms that are both precise and have high throughput as cohort sizes increase. Antibodybased immunoassays have traditionally been employed for biomarker verification, but the singleplex nature of these assays necessitates individual testing for each analyte [59]. In contrast, multiplex assays offer the potential for obtaining more reliable quantitative information through highly parallel analysis, compared to single analyte ELISA methods.…”

“…EOC and its responses to therapy involve intricate biological processes and proteins. Therefore, relying on the detection of a single biomarker may not offer a complete assessment of the disease's status or treatment response [59]. Multiplexing allows for the simultaneous detection of multiple analytes, enabling researchers and clinicians to assess the interaction between different biomarkers and biological processes associated with EOC [16].…”

Monoplex and multiplex immunoassays: approval, advancements, and alternatives

“…This has led to the development of low-cost, flexible, and high throughput methods for simultaneous detection of multiple proteins. The development of multiplex immunoassays allow the simultaneous measurement of multiple analytes in a single biological sample with minimal assay time, cost, and sample volume (Ahsan and Ahmad 2020). After overcoming the technical hurdles, the multiplex platform-based technologies have been applied in biomedical research and clinical diagnostics (Zheng and He 2012).…”

“…However, the clinical evidence based on a single analyte or biomarker is not adequate for an appropriate diagnosis of a disease or monitoring its treatment. The potential biomarkers have a pathophysiological significance and the clinical applications may have a profound impact on disease diagnosis and therapy (Ahsan and Ahmad 2020;Ahmad and Ahsan 2014;Ahsan 2013). The various biomarkers are an integral part of biomedical research and clinical practice.…”

Antibody selection strategies and their impact in the analysis of malaria multi-sera data

“…This lack of reproducibility can be explained by the complex life cycle, constant evolution, and high genomic diversity of malaria parasites [15][16][17][18] . Another factor is the adoption of different techniques to analyse data of hundreds or even thousands of antibody responses in the same individuals [7][8][9]19,20 . Although being tailored to analyse high dimensional datasets, these techniques are often agnostic about the stochastic nature of serological data, in which multiple serological populations can be present 7,8,21 .…”