A new plastic receptacle for solid phase immunoassays

A new, simple, inexpensive plastic device for solid phase immunoassay, the through-passage receptacle (TPR), with a large ratio of surface area to volume, is described. It was substantially more efficient in non-specific protein adsorption and specific immunological binding than the conventional wells of microtiter plates. It was also easier to wash since washing was facilitated by a through-passage with a gravity flow. This device, which should be more conducive to automation than currently used receptacles, should increase the sensitivity and decrease the incubation time of the solid phase immunoassay technique.

Studies of the precipitating antibody response in pulmonary aspergillosis

Fractions of <i>Aspergillus fumigatus </i>obtained by DEAE-cellulose chromatography were used for studying the precipitating antibody in sera from four patients with bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (BPA) and in an additional patient with a pulmonary aspergilloma. Three of the 4 BPA sera demonstrated the precipitin reaction with one or more fractions in gel diffusion, but no individual pattern was identical. In order to further evaluate the nature of the precipitating antibody, the mold fractions prior to testing were exposed to either heat, papain, or to reduction and alkylation. The serum from one subject continued to show a precipitin response in gel in spite of antigen treatment, whereas heating and reduction and alkylation abolished a detectable precipitin reaction by the other two sera. Papain had no apparent effect upon any of the antigens tested. In contrast to BPA, the serum from a subject with an aspergilloma contained multiple precipitating antibodies to the mold fractions studied. These antibodies were developed against antigens which showed varying degrees of lability when exposed to either heat or to reduction and alkylation.