Microparticles for selective protein determination in capillary electrophoresis.

A system for detection of trace amounts of protein was developed. Two different monoclonal antibodies against human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) were covalently bound to latex particles. When the latex particles were mixed with a sample containing hCG, a latex-protein-latex complex (immunocomplex) was formed. The complex was separated from the single latex particles using capillary electrophoresis and detected using UV-Vis detection. Limit of detection was 8 amol hCG. The separation was also monitored in real time using laser induced fluorescence - charge coupled device (LIF-CCD) imaging detection. However, a limitation of the method is the restriction to detection of proteins for which monoclonal antibodies are available.