ELISAs are widely used in biomarker-related studies, especially when a high number of samples is involved, and only a few biomarkers need to be quantified. That said, incubations can be somehow cumbersome, and some days one would like to get results fast (and accurate), and this is not always possible.
Also, when you need to differentiate between pro- and mature forms of a given protein (as this may be an indicator of a given physiological or disease status), you may need to do additional tests after your ELISAs to discriminate, in positive results, what comes from the pro- form and what comes from the mature form.
Recently, several manufacturers have developed new products to try and overcome these hurdles (time and pro- vs. mature form…). A couple of examples are the pro-NGF / NGF kits from Biosensis, together with the pro-BDNF / BDNF kits. Each kit is specific for each form (mature or unprocessed), and the total procedure time is less than 4 hours.
So you can get your results, without cross-reactivity between the pro- and mature forms before lunch!
