Microwave-Accelerated Immunoassay Instrument

描述（由申请人提供）：蛋白质组学的爆炸性增长增加了对研究生物分子结合相互作用的快速和方便手段的需求。该项目的目标是建立和测试一种新的仪器，用于一种新的免疫分析技术，称为微波加速表面化学（MASC）。MASC由两个部分组成：制备型，其涉及加速抗体结合事件，和分析型，其涉及微波触发的报告化学发光。该仪器本质上是一个微波培养箱/光度计，用于进行基于芯片的免疫测定。MASC芯片在包含微波活性介电材料方面是独一无二的。当被低功率微波照射时，芯片经历受控的温度升高，诱导制备和分析表面反应。该仪器将包括一个微波源（磁控管），一个新型的波导反应池，一个光电倍增管捕捉芯片发出的光，和一台个人电脑启动反应，收集和分析数据。我们相信，通过在波导内进行芯片反应，我们将获得比目前使用的微波炉腔更均匀和可控的加热。这一创新将带来数据质量和吞吐量的跨越式发展，从而大大提高MASC技术。如果成功，这种基于波导的仪器将直接导致商业MASC系统。研究的第一个目标是根据预先存在的设计来构建高质量的仪器。第二个目的是将仪器的性能与基于微波炉的仪器进行比较。性能将在精度，灵敏度，背景和动态范围方面进行严格的判断。Mirari计划将MASC仪器和芯片商业化，用于基于免疫测定的研究。这些产品将加速药物发现和开发，并降低相关成本。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The explosive growth of proteomics has increased the demand for rapid and convenient means of studying biomolecular binding interactions. The goal of this project is to build and test a novel instrument for a new immunoassay technology called Microwave-Accelerated Surface Chemistry (MASC). MASC consists of two components; preparative, which involves accelerating antibody binding events, and analytical, which involves microwave-triggered reporter chemiluminescence. The instrument will be, in essence, a microwave incubator/luminometer for performing chip-based immunoassays. MASC chips are unique in containing microwave-active dielectric materials. When irradiated by low power microwaves, the chips undergo controlled temperature increases, inducing preparative and analytical surface reactions. The instrument will consist of a microwave source (magnetron), a novel waveguide-based reaction cell, a photomultiplier tube to capture light emitted from chips, and a personal computer to initiate reactions and collect and analyze data. We believe that by performing chip reactions within a waveguide we will obtain much more uniform and controllable heating than the current use of a microwave oven cavity. This innovation will confer leapfrog advances in data quality and throughput, thus greatly improving MASC technology. If successful, this waveguide-based instrument will directly lead to commercial MASC systems. The first aim of the research is to build a high quality instrument according to a pre-existing design. The second aim is to compare the performance of the instrument to a microwave oven based instrument. Performance will be rigorously judged in terms of precision, sensitivity, background, and dynamic range. Mirari plans to commercialize MASC instruments and chips for immunoassay-based research. These products will accelerate drug discovery and development and reduce associated costs.