| chemiluminescence | <chemistry> Light emitted as a reaction proceeds. Becoming used increasingly to assay ATP (using firefly luciferase) and the production of toxic oxygen species by activated phagocytes (using luminol or lucigenin as bystander substrates that release light when oxidized). See: bioluminescence. (18 Nov 1997) |
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| chemiluminescence assays | Including a subcategory using bioluminescence (biologically derived chemiluminescence agents), use the generation of light from oxidative chemical reactions as an indicator of the quantity of unbound luminescent labelled antigen. This allows quantitation of unlabelled antigen from patient specimens in a variety of homogeneous (single phase) or heterogeneous (multiple phase) immunoassay techniques. (05 Mar 2000) |