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Membrane antibody arrays

Antibody arrays, such as cytokine arrays and arrays for other analytes, are simple tools to measure the levels of many cytokines simultaneously.

Our membrane cytokine and other antibody arrays enable the analysis of the levels of up to 96 cytokines or other proteins in one experiment. These antibody arrays have pg/ml sensitivity and are easy tools for comparing up to twenty samples in one experiment. They are antibody pair-based assays, just like an ELISA, and only require the same equipment as any chemiluminescent western blot for analysis.

As well as cytokines, they are useful tools for studying chemokines, growth factors, angiogenesis, apoptosis, and other proteins. Good examples of our cytokine arrays are ab133997 and ab133998, measuring 42 and 80 human cytokines, respectively.

Browse our antibody array products

Last edited Mon 26 Apr 2021

Advantages of membrane-based cytokine arrays and antibody arrays for other targets

Antibody arrays are used to measure many proteins simultaneously in one experiment, with significantly less time, effort and cost than running the many ELISAs or western blots required for the same number of analytes. Compared to other multiplex immunoassays, such as bead-based assays, membrane antibody arrays are very easy to set up and are significantly cheaper for comparison of when you need to compare many proteins across a small number of samples.

Antibody arrays offer several advantages:

  • No special equipment required: chemiluminescent detection method is the same as a western blot
  • Suitable for any chemiluminescent blot documentation system: film developer or benchtop darkroom
  • Free densitometer and spot recognition analysis software: available for download for free from NIH
  • Suitable for use with the Li-Cor® detection system : adapted array protocol for Li-Cor®
  • Large detection range: 10,000 fold detection (in pg/mL)
  • Duplicate antibody spots: capture antibodies are spotted in duplicate.
  • Optimized kit: our antibody array kit contains buffers, detection antibodies and membranes.

How do membrane-based antibody arrays work?

​​​​Antibody arrays are an antibody-pair-based assay, analogous to ELISA, but using a membrane as a substrate rather than a plate. Capture antibodies are supplied arrayed/spotted on a membrane with each pair of spots representing a different analyte. Sample is added (0.2-1ml of 1 sample to each membrane), and then paired biotinylated detector antibodies and streptavidin-HRP.

The array is analyzed using the same methods as a chemiluminescent western blot. Comparison between samples can be by eye or using densitometry software for a semi-quantitative comparison. The whole assay can be run in a single day or with overnight incubations.​​​​​​​​​

Comparison of ELISA vs membrane antibody arrays

 ELISAMembrane antibody arrays
No of proteins measured1up to 96 per array
Cost per sampleLow~1/2 cost of ELISA on a per sample per analyte basis
Sensitivitypg/mlpg/ml
QuantitativeYesSemi
Sample volume~0.1mL0.2-1mL
Protocol length/ complexitySimilarSimilar
Required equipmentPlate readerSame as for any chemiluminescent western blot

Membrane antibody arrays can be applied for

  • Multiplex cytokine expression profiling in inflammation
  • Serum biomarker profiling
  • PCR, gene microarray or western blotting results confirmation
  • Detection of active biological processes, for example in inflammation, asthma
  • Relative profiling of normal, diseased and treated samples

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