When the natural protein is not available, a small peptide
derived from its amino acid sequence may serve as a substitute to raise an
antibody against. Please consult with us before you have your own peptide synthesized:
- Even with modern tools choosing the right peptide sequence is an
art! This is, why even educated peptide selections in fact elicit
antibodies that will bind the peptide (which is trivial and which is guaranteed) but sometimes fail to recognize
the natural antigen. Did you know, that most polyclonal sera against
linear epitopes will be confined to a few dominant epitopes even if the
total protein was used as an antigen? Then you might appreciate the task
of making a suitable antigenic peptide prediction ... !
- All our peptides are at least 80% or 90% pure and verified by mass
spectrometry, as antibodies shouldn't be directed against protective
groups, other detritus, and irrelevant sequences....
- As
a standard, affinity purification of the test sera on an antigen
cartridge is included in all our anti-peptide antibody services at no
extra costs! Testing crude anti-peptide sera on complex
mixtures (e.g. immunoblots of tissue homogenates) mostly is an
unsatisfying job, because you can hardly discriminate specific from
similar sized unspecific bands. However, with an affinity purified
antibody you can tell immediately: Does the antibody recognize the
natural protein ? / What is the content (µg antibody per ml of serum) ? /
Is there a specific (!) cross-reactivity with unrelated proteins
containing similar sequence motifs ?