Antibodies play a vital role in research as powerful tools for studying protein interactions and signaling pathways. They are widely used in various experimental techniques to detect, isolate, and characterize specific proteins of interest. Here are some ways antibodies are used in research:
Immunofluorescence
Immunofluorescence is a technique commonly used for protein detection by visualizing protein interactions and confirming cellular localizations. Antibodies that selectively bind to target proteins of interest are tagged with a fluorescent dye. For specific staining, several proteins are labelled with antibodies linked to different fluorophores, and confocal microscopy is used. If the merging of images reveals an overlapping signal, this indicates protein co-localization.
Immunoprecipitation
By immobilizing antibodies on solid supports, such as agarose or magnetic beads, proteins of interest can be captured from cells or tissue extracts. This enables the precipitation of proteins that are in a complex or in contact with a protein of interest, and allows for further isolation and purification for analyses.
Co-immunoprecipitation
Antibodies can also serve as probes to identify interacting partners. Co-immunoprecipitation use antibodies to capture a target protein and its associated interactors from a sample, revealing not only the interaction between the two proteins, but also the strength of interaction under different circumstances.1
Here at Biointron, we are dedicated to accelerating antibody discovery, optimization, and production. Our team of experts can provide customized solutions that meet your specific research needs. Contact us to learn more about our services and how we can help accelerate your research and drug development projects.
References:
Erbil-Bilir, S., Kocaturk, N. M., Yayli, M., & Gozuacik, D. (2016). Study of Protein-protein Interactions in Autophagy Research. Journal of Visualized Experiments : JoVE, (127). https://doi.org/10.3791/55881
Biointron’s AbDrop & Cyagen’s HUGO-Ab is a high-throughput fully human antibody discovery platform that combines microdroplet-based single B cell screening with transgenic mice. This combination accelerates the discovery and development of fully human antibodies, reducing the time from target identification to therapeutic candidate to just three months.
The development of chimeric antibodies was a significant turning point in antibody engineering. To engineer more human-like antibodies, researchers combined the variable regions of antibodies from one species with the constant regions of another, resulting in increased antigen specificity with reduced immunogenicity. This was a key advance in making antibodies more suitable for therapeutic applications in humans.
DOI:10.1016/j.trecan.2024.07.002Bispecific antibodies (bsAbs) are a class of engineered therapeutic molecules designed to engage two different epitopes or antigens simultaneously, providing them with unique functionalities that go beyond traditional monoclonal antibodies. By targeting two distinct a
The 22nd Annual Discovery on Target 2024 was held in Boston, MA on September 30 to October 3, 2024. This four-day event involved discussion on popular topics like kinases, immunomodulation, and degraders, plus coverage of covalent chemistries and induced proximity, synthetic biology, cancer antibodies, generative AI, and translational models.
