Patent ID: 8304195

Claim:
A method of forming a non-covalent immuno-labeled complex, wherein said method comprises the steps of: a) contacting in a reaction vessel a solution of target-binding antibodies with a discreet labeling reagent subset to form a labeling mixture, wherein said labeling reagent subset is distinguished by i) ratio of label to labeling reagent or ii) a physical properties of said label, wherein said target-binding antibody comprises an Fc region, wherein said labeling reagent is a monovalent antibody fragment having affinity for said Fc region and wherein said monovalent antibody fragment is independently covalently linked to one or more labels at a region other than the Fc-binding region of said monovalent antibody fragment; b) incubating said labeling mixture for a time period sufficient for one or more labeling reagents to form a non-covalent complex with a target-binding antibody, wherein said Fc region of said target binding antibody is selectively bound by labeling reagent; c) removing unbound labeling reagent from the labeling mixture by adding to the reaction vessel a capture reagent comprising immunoglobulin proteins or fragments thereof to form the non-covalent immuno-labeled complex subset, wherein the capture reagent is capable of binding to the labeling reagent that does not bind to the target binding antibody; and, d) optionally repeating said steps a), b), and c) to form a panel of non-covalent immuno-labeled complex subsets wherein each subset is distinguished from another subset by i) a ratio of label to labeling reagent, or ii) a physical property of said label, or iii) a ratio of labeling reagent to said target-binding antibody, or iv) by said target-binding antibody.