Polyclonal Antisera
What is the timeline for the production of such antibodies?
Our standard polyclonal production takes approximately 10 weeks from receipt of your antigen to sending you purified immunoglobulin. Some variation in this schedule will result due to low response by the rabbit or your need for multiple bleeds.
Do you provide any guarantees on the serum titer?
We can not guarantee that an antigen will induce an immune response. We do guarantee that we will do our very best to work with you to produce the reagents you need.
What are the differences between using synthetic peptides, naturally occurring proteins or recombinant expressed proteins as antigens?
Each system can be successful in raising antibodies. We would need to know more about your specific proteins to offer an opinion on which is the best method to use. Peptides, for example, are very effective where specific epitopes need to be targeted. However, it is possible to produce anti-peptide antibodies that do not bind native proteins. Native proteins work better when assays requiring multiple epitopes are planned. We do recommend using purified and well characterized antigen whenever possible.
What quantities of antibody are provided?
Quantity is determined by your needs and your budget. In general, you can anticipate an IgG concentration in serum of 10 mg/ml, with a varying percentage of specific antibody, depending upon the immune response of the animal.
My test bleeds are red; why is this and do I need to be concerned?
The red color comes from hemolysis of red blood cells and the release of hemoglobin during collection and processing. The presence of hemoglobin in the antiserum should not affect the performance characteristics of the antiserum.