A Quick Guide To Antibody Validation

As one of the most common reagents in biology and medical research, more than 350,000 commercially produced antibodies are available for research and clinical applications. However, the quality of the commercially available antibodies varies from vendor to vendor. 

Different suppliers have different protocols for immunized validation service and some researchers might want to verify the product before using them on precious samples. Here are some of the factors to examine when it comes to antibody quality. 

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Target Specificity

One of the most important factors to consider when it comes to antibody validation is to make sure the antibody works against your target antigen. We have previously discussed using knockout samples to validate antibodies. 

Using a KO sample in your assays guarantees to have true negative control. But this also means that the assays will not test for antigen-antibody binding affinity and KO cell lines against your specific target gene may not always be readily available. 

Species Reactivity

Antibodies are usually raised using animals that are a different species to the host of the native protein. This is to maximize the possibility of evoking immune response and produce antibodies.

However, this also means that sometimes the resulting antibodies may not work in your sample. Therefore, make sure to check the cross-reactivity of the antibody you purchased or test the antibody on a smaller sample first.

At ABclonal, we purify our antibodies using antigen affinity purification. Validation is completed using various applications and samples from different species.