Introduction

What if the antibodies you need are unavailable on the catalogs of major reagent firms?  What if you don't have enough resource or manpower to generate them in your own lab?  What if you are unwilling to pay the relatively high fee for a monoclonal service?  The answer lies in AccuPoly, our custom polyclonal antibody service.  This program would provide you antibodies against any desired target, but cost you 70-80% less than a typical monoclonal package.  Later, when the need arises, we can still develop monoclonal antibodies on your behalf, using the same antigen(s).

Package Options

Scientists consider the selection of antigens a key determinant on the outcome of an antibody project.  However, no consensus exists as to which type of antigens would yield the best results.  The truth is, a good choice of antigen(s) always depends on the nature of your protein and the nature of your application (see Table 1).  For this reason, our laboratories work with all three major types of antigens: peptides, soluble protein fragments and full-length recombinant proteins (long soluble fragments or full-length proteins are usually reserved for very "difficult" proteins).  With AccuPoly, you could start a project with any antigen type, a combination of types and multiple antigens.

Table 1.  Available Antigen Options for Custom Polyclonal Antibody Service.  Abbreviation for antibody applications: WB, Western blot; IF, immunofluorescence; IHC, immunohistochemistry; ICC, immunocytochemistry; IP, immunoprecipitation; ChIP, chromatin immunoprecipitation; FC, flow cytometry.  *For full-length protein antigens, we suggest that customer supply cDNA for cloning and expression.  **We would usually recommend an AccuMono monoclonal package for IP, ChIP, FC and functional assays.

Procedure

Customer could start a project simply by submitting a protein sequence (for peptide or fragment antigen).  Our technical staff would then analyze the sequence with the proprietary AccuTope algorithm.  The software identifies 2 types of potential antigens from the unique and exposed portions of the protein: those that lack secondary and tertiary structures; and those that fold autonomously.  Such antigens (called "AccuTopes antigens") would appear the same in the peptide or fragment form or in the context of the native protein.  As a result, antibodies raised against them would likely recognize the native protein.

One or several antibodies are then used to immunize rabbits by our modified protocols.  To enhance your odds of success and guarantee yields, multiple animals (in this case, 2-4 rabbits) are treated with each unique antigen.  Finally, our strict screening methods would ensure that only the best performing antibodies are delivered to customer.

An AccuPoly project usually lasts 100-120 days.

Pricing

Please contact us for an evaluation.