A rapid method for detection of cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs)

Detection of cell surface proteins is widely used as molecular markers for initiation, progression and severity of many diseases. In particular, detection of cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) on endothelial cells is important as it indicates the extent of inflammation associated with several diseases including arthritis, asthma, tumor metastasis, etc. Here, we report, a rapid method for detection of CAMs on endothelial cells by covalently immobilizing TNF-alpha induced cells on a photoactivated polystyrene microtiter plate at 50 degrees C in 45 min followed by performing enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique at elevated temperature. Our method reduced the time of cell-ELISA to 3 h with results akin to conventional cell-ELISA carried out in 38 h. The method thus described herein could be potentially useful in clinical and research laboratories for rapid detection of cell surface proteins including CAMs on intact cell samples. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.