Molecular Multitasking

Commercial kits use fluorescent beads to probe dozens of cytokines in one reaction.

Written byCarina Storrs
| 6 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
6:00
Share

PHOTO BY MICHAEL MAGGS, WIKIMEDIA COMMONSCytokines are small proteins secreted by diverse cell types in the body that orchestrate myriad immune reactions depending on the other cytokines in the milieu. For example, when interleukin-4 (IL-4) is acting alone, it signals B-cells to proliferate and churn out particular types of antibodies. But the simultaneous presence of a cytokine called interferon-γ (IFN-γ) contradicts that message, reducing the numbers of B-cells and changing the kinds of antibodies they produce.

The bottom line: “It is very likely that it won’t be a single molecule that will mean something about an immune response,” says Amit Bar-Or, director of the Experimental Therapeutics Program at the Montreal Neurological Institute of McGill University.

Enter multiplexing. In the past 10 years, many of the major life-science product companies have come out with kits for measuring as many as several dozen cytokines at the same time, in the same well.

Multiplex kits use a pair of antibodies, one to capture the cytokine and another to detect it. Some kits attach the capture antibodies to a flat surface, as in the traditional ELISA. But in the more popular bead-based kits, researchers add their sample to a well containing a mixture of bead ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here
July Digest 2025
July 2025, Issue 1

What Causes an Earworm?

Memory-enhancing neural networks may also drive involuntary musical loops in the brain.

View this Issue
Screening 3D Brain Cell Cultures for Drug Discovery

Screening 3D Brain Cell Cultures for Drug Discovery

Explore synthetic DNA’s many applications in cancer research

Weaving the Fabric of Cancer Research with Synthetic DNA

Twist Bio 
Illustrated plasmids in bright fluorescent colors

Enhancing Elution of Plasmid DNA

cytiva logo
An illustration of green lentiviral particles.

Maximizing Lentivirus Recovery

cytiva logo

Products

The Scientist Placeholder Image

Sino Biological Sets New Industry Standard with ProPure Endotoxin-Free Proteins made in the USA

sartorius-logo

Introducing the iQue 5 HTS Platform: Empowering Scientists  with Unbeatable Speed and Flexibility for High Throughput Screening by Cytometry

parse_logo

Vanderbilt Selects Parse Biosciences GigaLab to Generate Atlas of Early Neutralizing Antibodies to Measles, Mumps, and Rubella

shiftbioscience

Shift Bioscience proposes improved ranking system for virtual cell models to accelerate gene target discovery