Quantitation of radio-ligand binding data using a desk-top calculator in the program mode

Quantitation of specific estrogen-binding capacity was facilitated using an inexpensive procedure for the rapid processing of data from radioligand binding measurements from sucrose gradient analyses. Ligand-binding data from each fraction of a gradient were punched into a paper tape in ASCII code and, later, read by a tape reader into an Olivetti Programma 101. Using the total instructional capacity (120 steps) a program was written in symbolic language which describes: (a) the calculation of counting efficiency of the instrument for each fraction, (b) the conversion of counts/minute to disintegrations/minute, (c) the computation of the concentration of [³H]estradiol-17β in each fraction and (d) the summation of the quantity of [³H]estradiol-17β bound by specified regions of the gradient. The program can easily be adapted for use with data generated from separation procedures such as centrifugation, electrophoresis or chromatography in which large number of samples are analysed.