A microassay for protein determination using microwaves. Anal Biochem

Recent developments in biochemistry demand faster screening methods which can work with small volumes. This is equally true for estimation of proteins as well. Akins and Tuan [1] have suggested the use of microwaves for enhancing the sensitivity of protein estimation by Lowry's method [2]. Young et al. [3] have described an automated colorimetric microassay system for protein estimation using an ELISA1 plate reader. In the present work, we describe a method which is based upon synergy of the above two approaches. The result is a fast and sensitive protocol which can work with small volumes. Materials and methods Materials. All chemicals were of analytical grade. Soybean trypsin inhibitor, a-chymotrypsin, ribonucle-ase, and trypsin were purchased from Sigma Chemical (St. Louis, MO). Bovine serum albumin was procured from Merck-Schuchardt (Germany); lysozyme (egg white) and goat IgG were from Bangalore Genei, India. Folin-Ciocalteau's reagent was obtained from Sisc