Abstract
Immunoassays are techniques that use labeled or unlabeled antibodies as reagents for the detection and quantification of sample analytes. The popularity of these methods has increased because they are precise, sensitive and relatively inexpensive. In fact, antibodies have the ability to recognize their ligands with high specificity and can also be labeled fairly easily without significant loss of binding activity. Thanks to these properties, they can be used together with other reagents in analytical procedures. Furthermore, the substitution of isotopes with non-radioactive labels has made these techniques less hazardous to both users and the environment. Finally, the specificity and the high affinity or avidity of antibody binding make it an extremely sensitive technique for the detection of minute amounts of antigens.
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© 1999 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Caponi, L. (1999). Introduction. In: Caponi, L., Migliorini, P. (eds) Antibody Usage in the Lab. Springer Lab Manual. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-03942-7_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-03942-7_1
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-662-03944-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-662-03942-7
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