Human MMP13/Collagenase 3 ELISA Kit PicoKine™

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A: Unfortunately, Boster Bio has not routinely validated tissue homogenates as a sample type for ELISA kits. This does not mean that ELISA kits are not suitable for other sample types than we have tested: it means further investigation is required. One will need to perform a spike and recovery study to determine if an unvalidated sample type will work with a particular kit. To perform a spike and recovery experiment, one should divide a sample into two aliquots. In one of the aliquots, the user should spike in a known amount of the kit standard. a dilution series is performed comparing the spiked versus the unspiked sample. Generally, samples with expected recovery and linearity between 80-120% are considered acceptable. This method can be used to validate any sample type that has not been assessd by Boster Bio. for a more detailed spike and recovery protocol, please contact technical support.
Note: acceptable ranges should be determined individually by each laboratory. Additionally, technical support can help determine if a buffer component is not compatible with a given ELISA kit. please check the Citations tab on the product webpage for peer-reviewed papers utilizing a wide range of sample types. We also have an innovator's reward program where if the user validates our ELISA kits in applications or samples previously not validated by Boster Bio or other users, and share such information with us by submit a review, we will reward the user's efforts with a free antibody or ELISA kit from our catalog. Biocompare.com will also give $20 Amazon giftcard as an additional reward, if the review is submitted there as well.

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A: The enzyme is always active. Avoid contaminating the substrate with enzyme prior to the incubation otherwise it compromises the assay with false positive signal.

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A: unable to understand the physiological or pathological context of your samples we cannot recommend a dilution ratio without performing a pilot test with your samples. Here is how you can perform a pilot study on your own: perform a serial dilution of your samples on the MMP-13 ELISA kit to make sure you have a linear ascending curve followed by a plateau, which signifies the samples saturating the detection limit of the kit. Then you can pick the dilution ratios from samples in the linear part of the curve as your experimental dilution ratio.
If you are interested in using our ELISA service, you can also send us your sample and we will take care of everything for you. You can check our service details here: bosterbio.com/services/assay-services/ELISA-testing-service
Since you mentioned you have limited samples, our cost effective multiplex ELISA service would fit perfectly for your needs, where we can generate dozens of data points using as little as 25ul sample volume. Information on this service is also in the above link.

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A: The absolute O.D. values may change according to incubation time. The more you incubate the higher the O.D. values are going to be. what you should focus on is whether your sample O.D. values are statistically significantly higher than your blank values. in the example mentioned, you could extend your development time in the substrate incubation step to obtain higher O.D. values, as long as your negative controls' O.D. values are not increasing faster in proportion to your positive controls. normally, a sample with O.D. value 2 standard deviations higher than your negative controls can be considered positive. We calculate the sensitivity of this ELISA kit by converting cutoff O.D. value, calculated as the average of 20 negative controls plus 2 standard deviations of the 20 negative controls, into a concentration. in other words, when we claim this MMP-13 ELISA kit to have sensitivity of 5pg/ml, that means the minimum amount of MMP-13 that can be declared/interpreted as positive by the above standard is 5pg/ml.