A Microsphere Immunoassay for the Quantitative Detection of Antigens in Cell Culture Supernatant

Quantitative immunoassays, such as the traditional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), are used to determine concentrations of an antigen in a matrix of unknown antigen concentration. Magnetic immunoassays, such as the Luminex xMAP technology, allow for the simultaneous detection of multiple analytes and offer heightened sensitivity, specificity, low sample volume requirements, and high-throughput capabilities. Here, we describe a quantitative immunoassay using the Luminex MAGPIX® System to determine the antigen concentration from liquid samples with unknown concentrations. In detail, we describe a newly developed assay for determining production yields of Drosophila S2-produced Marburg virus (MARV) glycoprotein in insect-cell-culture-derived supernatant. The potential applications of this assay could extend to the quantification of viral antigens in fluids derived from both in vitro and in vivo models infected with live MARV, thereby providing additional applications for virological research.