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Abstract

Lateral flow device and method are provided for performing semi-quantitative visual or instrument-based detection in a test sample of a large molecule analyte that contains two binding domains, .alpha. and .beta.. The device contains two reagents, a contrast reagent and an indicator reagent, and an analyte test zone (ATZ) that contains a fixed number of immobilized .alpha.-domain-specific binding sites. The contrast and indicator reagents each contain signal generators such that the two reagents contrast each other in different regions of a visual, spectrophotometric, calorimetric or fluorometric spectrum. The contrast reagent is prebound to an .alpha.-region-fragment of the analyte of interest and, therefore, does not react with the analyte of interest in the test sample. The indicator reagent is attached to a binding ligand specific for the .beta.-domain of the analyte of interest. When a test sample is applied to the device, the analyte, if present, reacts with the indicator reagent and competes with the contrast reagent for the ATZ's .alpha.-domain binding sites. The analyte concentration in the test sample is evaluated by comparing the ratio of contrast and indicator signals in the ATZ with signal ratios for known analyte concentrations.

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