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Phage display – the process of genetically fusing antibody fragments with phage to identify binding partners to your protein of interest – was covered pretty thoroughly here over the past few months. The success of this assay predicates on creating a diverse library of up to 1012 genes coding for these antibody fragments. Despite being…
The ubiquitin-proteasome system was discovered at the start of the 1980s, and people have been studying it ever since. Initially, researchers thought that tagging a protein with ubiquitin was the cell’s signal for the protein to be scrapped via the proteasome. But more research has shown that, as with all biology, once you’re up close and…
Like all technical fields, molecular biology contains a very robust “theoretical” realm and an equally robust “practical” realm. Unfortunately, these two existences don’t seem to overlap as often as we’d like. Consider, for example, a simple Western blot. While an antibody interacting with its target on a membrane seems pretty straightforward, there are numerous other…
Monoclonal antibodies: You’ve probably heard a lot about them. Unsurprisingly, you may have also used them in your research. These antibodies (mAbs) are classically produced by the hybridoma technology pioneered by Köhler and Milstein in 19751: A mouse is immunized with the substance against which you need to produce an antibody. The mouse spleen cells (consisting…
You use your antibody frequently, maybe even every day. You rely on it for western blotting, immunohistochemistry, FACS, ELISA, and immunoprecipitation. You’d be lost without it. But how well do you really know your antibody? Are you sure that it detects what you believe it to detect? If you have the slightest doubt, or if you have…
Antibodies are one of the most important tools in molecular biology. Basic researchers use antibodies to identify, locate, isolate and quantify specific proteins. Clinical researchers use antibodies to target a specific drug (such as a chemotherapeutic agent) to a particular cell. Because of the cell specificity provided by the antibody, a higher amount of antibody…