Patent ID: 7488605

Claim:
A method for characterizing in a sample molecular associates consisting of subunits, comprising the steps of: (1) labeling non-associated subunits directly with at least one fluorescence dye, (2) contacting the labeled subunits with the sample, under conditions that permit the association and/or binding of the labeled subunits to each other, to reach an association and/or binding of the labeled subunits to each other or to unlabeled subunits present in the sample or to molecular associates present in the sample, and to form labeled molecular associates, and (3) determining size, granularity, or fluorescence of the labeled molecular associates by a FACS (Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorter), thereby distinguishing (a) the labeled molecular associates formed by the labeled subunits with each other from (b) the labeled molecular associates formed by the labeled subunits with unlabeled subunits present in the sample or (c) the labeled molecular associates formed by the labeled subunits with the molecular associates present in the sample, wherein the molecular associates are virus or phage capsids, proteasomes, chaperon complexes, or ribosomes, or are built up from modified subunits thereof, or are peptide associates or protein associates comprising a peptide, a protein, a glycoprotein, or a lipoprotein, and wherein the molecular associates do not comprise cells.