Fast, Full Plate Magnetic Bead Washing for Multiplexed Assays

BioTek’s industry standard ELx405 Microplate Washer is now available for use with multiplexed assays using magnetic beads. The ELx405 Magnetic Bead Washer has been developed in conjunction with leaders in the provision of genotyping, focused gene expression and protein assays utilizing Luminex MagPlex microsperes.

ELx405 is a 96-/384-well microplate washer which incorporates a neodymium iron boron magnet for immobilizing magnetic beads on the bottom of the microplate during wash steps providing high bead recoveries and washing efficiency. The 96-tube manifold (also available in 192-tube for more rapid washing in 384-well densities) provides rapid full-plate processing of multiple washes and wash cycles typical of Luminex xMAP-based assays.

The use of the ELx405 Magnetic Bead Washer provides ease-of-use, improved precision in replicate data and the ability to automate the Luminex xMAP technology for multiple applications such as the quantification of human metabolic hormones from sera or plasma. Below is the 13-plex calibration curves from a Milliplex panel run using ELx405.


Precision in the replicate data provided by the ELx405 was compared to that provided using standard filter-based xMAP sample preparation in the histogram below.

Higher precision is evident with ELx405 with a significantly greater number of replicates with %CV ≤ 5 and there are no high %CV replicates as those seen with filter-based sample preparation which are indicative of filter clogging.

Do you view the benefits of ease of use, higher precision and automation-capability provided by MagPlex beads and ELx405 as useful improvements to Luminex xMAP technology? Will your lab adopt the new MagPlex magnetic microspheres or are you content with the original polystyrene microspheres and filter-based sample preparation?


By: BioTek Instruments