Signal enhancement of bispecific antibody-polymer probe for immunoassay use

Abstract

An immunoassay method including reacting a sample from a patient with a bispecific antibody, wherein the bispecific antibody includes one antibody specific for a compound to be detected and a second antibody specific for a compound foreign to said patient sample, and subsequently reacting the patient sample with a polymer probe, wherein the polymer probe includes a compound recognized by the second antibody in the bispecific antibody complex and further includes at least two detectable signals; the bispecific antibody; and the polymer probe of the immunoassay method are disclosed.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . An immunoassay method comprising 
 reacting a sample from a patient with a bispecific antibody, said bispecific antibody comprising 
 one antibody specific for a compound to be detected and  
 a second antibody specific for a compound foreign to said patient sample; and  
   subsequently reacting said sample with a polymer probe, said polymer probe comprising 
 a polymer backbone,  
 attached to said polymer backbone, a compound recognizable by said second antibody in said bispecific antibody, and  
 at least two detectable signal compounds further attached to said polymer backbone.  
   
     
     
         2 . The immunoassay method of  claim 1 , wherein said polymer probe comprises at least ten detectable compounds.  
     
     
         3 . The immunoassay method of  claim 1 , wherein said detectable signal in said polymer probe is selected from the group consisting of radioisotope, fluorescent probe and paramagnetic probe.  
     
     
         4 . The immunoassay method of  claim 1 , wherein said sample from said patient is a blood or serum sample; said bispecific antibody comprises an antimyosin antibody and an antibody against DTPA; and said polymer probe is a polylysine polymer and comprises DTPA and at least 6 HRP as said detectable signal compounds.  
     
     
         5 . A bispecific antibody for use in an immunoassay comprising 
 one antibody specific for a compound to be detected in said immunoassay; and    a second antibody specific for a compound foreign to a sample to be assayed in said immunoassay.    
     
     
         6 . A polymer probe comprising 
 a polymer backbone;    a compound recognizable by an antibody in a bispecific antibody attached to said polymer backbone, and    at least two detectable signal compounds attached to said polymer backbone.    a compound recognizable by said second antibody in said bispecific antibody and    at least two detectable signal compounds.