The Mouse Interleukin 12/23 (IL-12/-23) p40 ELISA Kit is designed for the quantitative detection and measurement of mouse IL-12 and IL-23 in biological fluids such as serum, plasma, and cell culture supernatants. IL-12 and IL-23 are heterodimeric cytokines that share a common p40 subunit. IL-12 is produced by monocytes, macrophages, dendritic cells, neutrophils, and B cells. IL-12 is a regulator of cytokine synthesis, especially IFN-γ, enhances the proliferation of T and NK cells, and stimulates the differentiation of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. IL-23 is secreted by activated macrophages and dendritic cells, and induces the proliferation of memory T cells and the production of IL-17.

The assay is based on the sandwich ELISA method, in which samples are added to ELISA strip plates pre-coated with capture antibodies specific for the cytokine. The captured cytokine is detected by addition of a biotinylated detection antibody, followed by streptavidin-horseradish peroxidase, which binds the biotinylated antibody. Addition of the chromogenic enzyme substrate 3,3’,5,5’ tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) results in a colored product with an intensity directly proportional to the concentration of cytokine in the sample. The concentration of the cytokine is determined by comparison to a serial dilution of the cytokine standard analyzed in parallel.