Patent ID: 7476502

Claim:
A method for assaying an analyte in a sample, comprising: allowing said analyte to couple to a first nucleic acid; mixing said analyte with a known amount of an antagonist for said analyte wherein said antagonist is coupled to a competitive template for said first nucleic acid; exposing said mixture to a receptor that can form complexes with both said antagonist and said analyte; amplifying said mixture to obtain an amplified product of said first nucleic acid that complexed with said receptor and a co-amplified product of said competitive template for said first nucleic acid that complexed with said receptor; obtaining a first relation, said first relation comparing amplified product of said first nucleic acid that complexed with said receptor to co-amplified product of said competitive template for said first nucleic acid that complexed with said receptor; mixing a reference nucleic acid in said first sample with a known amount of a competitive template for said reference nucleic acid wherein said reference nucleic acid is a control for loading; obtaining a second relation, said second relation comparing amplified product of said reference nucleic acid to co-amplified product of said competitive template for said reference nucleic acid; and comparing said first and said second relations, thereby assaying said analyte.