R&D Systems has released some application notes describing alternative methods to Western blotting for quantifying cellular signalling factors.
R&D Systems provide a range of kits, including the Cell-Based ELISA which permits the simultaneous detection of two proteins and the DuoSet® ICIP-Kinase Assays which can be used to detect changes in the levels of protein or changes in its phosphorylation state.
The Cell-Based ELISAs kits come in two formats: phospho-protein kits containing antibodies to measure both the phosphorylated and the total protein, while total protein kits contain antibodies to the protein of interest and a second housekeeping protein.
The DuoSet® IC activity assays can be used to measure the activity of specific cellular proteins, including intracellular kinases, phosphatases, and transcription factors. The company claims the kits are easy to use and highly sensitive, and provide a selective alternative to single substrate activity assays or traditional electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA).