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Proteins represent essential tools for many different research and in vitro diagnostic (IVD) applications. Paramount among these are the widespread use of protein immunogens for antibody production and the incorporation of protein controls and reference standards into various antibody-based tests. Proteins are usually supplied as either highly purified native preparations or recombinant products, both of which have utility for investigating disease pathogenesis and developing effective treatment options.
How are proteins used for antibody production?
Antibody production often involves immunizing an animal with a protein of interest to stimulate an immune response. Once the protein has been processed by antigen presenting cells to enable its detection by circulating B lymphocytes, antibodies are either purified from the sera (polyclonal antibody preparations) or the B cells are isolated and used for hybridoma production (monoclonal antibody preparations). For these methods to be effective, proteins must be highly pure and free of endotoxins that could cause an adverse reaction in the animal host. When producing antibodies against haptens, it is common practice for these small, non-immunogenic molecules to be conjugated with larger carrier proteins such as keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) or bovine serum albumin (BSA).
How do proteins function as controls and reference standards?
Any well-designed immunoassay will include positive and negative controls to determine the maximal assay signal and the degree of non-specific background staining, respectively. Proteins are often employed as positive controls in qualitative immunoassays such as Western blot, where they are used to validate detection of the same target in sample material, and in quantitative applications like enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), where they are used to generate a standard curve. For quantitative methods, it is common practice to serially dilute the protein such that a sigmoidal concentration curve is produced; the concentration of the target protein in any test samples can then be calculated against this.
Why choose proteins from ICL?
We offer a broad selection of recombinant and highly purified native proteins for research, antibody manufacturing, and IVD applications. These include established protein biomarkers for human or animal disease as well as proteins from infectious agents such as Plasmodium falciparum, feline leukemia virus, and SARS-CoV-2. We also offer a 12 Epitope Tag Control protein as a highly versatile control for Western blotting and a purified CHO PLBL2 protein for ensuring accurate detection of the PLBL2 host-cell-protein (HCP) that frequently co-purifies in monoclonal antibody preparations. All our products are manufactured in the USA under strict process control to ensure quality and consistency and are backed by rapid customer service and expert technical support to help keep your project on track.