Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is one of the most specific and straightforward assays for detecting biomolecules. It is an exceptionally powerful and versatile technique. This document covers the various ELISA methods most commonly available on the market, and discusses the differences among them. If you would like to know if an ELISA method is the appropriate one for your research, please refer to this article.

Advantages and disadvantages of different methods of ELISA

1. Direct ELISA

Advantages:

■ Rapid

■ Secondary antibody cross-reactivity eliminated

Disadvantages:

■ Low sensitivity

■ Specific antibody for each ELISA

■ Time-consuming and expensive

2. Indirect ELISA

Advantages:

■ High sensitivity

■ Cost-saving

■ Flexible; can use many primary antibodies

Disadvantages:

■ Risk of cross-reactivity between secondary antibodies

3. Sandwich ELISA

Advantages:

■Minimal sample purification needed

■High sensitivity and specificity

Disadvantages:

■ Must use “matched pair” primary and secondary antibodies

■ Time consuming and expensive

4. Competitive ELISA

Advantages:

■ Minimal sample purification needed

■ Used to measure large range of antigens in a sample

■ Used for small antigens

■ Low variability

Disadvantages:

■ Low specificity so cannot be used in dilute samples

ELISA is a fast, simple and powerful method compared to other common proteomic techniques. We hope this document can give you an overview of the different commercially available ELISA options, and help you decide if ELISA is the right method for your intended study.

Alpha Lifetech Inc. is becoming a choice for sourcing ELISA kits for customers throughout the world. Our sales representatives and technical experts will continue in providing advice throughout. In addition, we can offer customized services for your special requirements, providing protein expression, antibody production, ELISA construction, conduction of assays, results analysis and other one-stop technical services.

You can check our product list to choose the ELISA kit you want. If you still have any related questions, please contact our technical support scientists. They will gladly assist you in finding the right product for your needs. Please feel free to contact us.