Cytokine Release: Comparison of Multiplex and Simplex assays
Quality Assistance

Access this 45 minute webinar to learn:

  • How to overcome the challenges usually associated to Multiplex assays
  • How to select the right technology for your needs

Cytokine profiling is a powerful tool to link the host immune system with disease pathogenesis and/or treatment efficacy. 
The analysis of cytokine expression is frequently required for the characterisation of the status of the immune system, to demonstrate the function of the cells of interest and as an analysis of surrogate markers for in vitro potency testing. 

Classically, the analysis of cytokine expression is performed by ELISA for each separate analyte. 
Multiplex assays allow the simultaneous measurement of multiple cytokines in a sample, increasing the efficiency (less time-consuming and less expensive) and considerably reducing the sample volumes needed.

In the context of a 9 month internal R&D project, we have compared three multiplex technologies for the measurement of cytokines:

  • Electrochemiluminescence (ECL, MSD)
  • Magnetic beads (Luminex, Merck Millipore) 
  • Cytometric Bead Array (FACS Verse, BD)
  • The performance of the three assays was evaluated in terms of their accuracy, repeatability, intermediate precision, quantification range and ability to detect cytokines in human PBMC samples.