Immunomääritys

Immunomääritys is a laboratory technique used to detect and quantify specific substances, typically antigens or antibodies, in a biological sample. This method relies on the highly specific binding interaction between an antigen and its corresponding antibody. The presence of the target substance is usually indicated by a measurable signal, such as a color change, fluorescence, or radioactivity, which is generated through the use of labeled reagents.

The principle behind immunomääritys involves incubating a sample containing the substance of interest with a reagent (either an antibody or an antigen) that is known to bind specifically to it. If the target substance is present in the sample, it will bind to the reagent. A secondary reagent, often labeled with a detection molecule, is then used to visualize or quantify the bound complex. Different types of immunomääritys assays exist, including enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), radioimmunoassay (RIA), and immunofluorescence assays, each employing different detection methods.

Immunomääritys techniques are widely used in various fields, including clinical diagnostics for detecting diseases and monitoring treatment, research for studying biological processes, and in food safety testing. Their sensitivity and specificity make them powerful tools for analyzing complex biological matrices.