Antibody Production: An Overview
Working with vivitide
It has always been our goal to provide unparalleled quality and service to you as our customer. No matter what type of project you have or antigen you wish to use (peptide or protein), you can trust us with your custom antibody development. We do all that we can to ensure that you have the best possible chance for success, and our domestic-only animal facilities are AAALAC accredited, OLAW assured, and USDA licensed to ensure all proper care is taken and research animals are treated appropriately.
If you are frustrated by the quality of anti-peptide catalog antibodies you receive, or are working with a novel target unavailable as a catalog item, custom antibody production - with the flexibility to design a peptide antigen catered to your own needs - is the logical place to turn. As a core competency, synthesizing clean and pure peptides has always been something that we have done well. However, even if using the purest peptide possible, unless the sequence is designed the right way, you may not get the results you seek. During our greater than 20 years of experience at generating antibodies, we have developed a proprietary process for this design that works. This comprises a significant amount of effort on our part – more than our competitors are willing to put in - but the results (happy customers) are worth it.
Our Design Philosophy
First and foremost, we know how important it is to listen to your needs. and make appropriate suggestions for how to proceed based on what you communicate to us. Most design results that exemplify a quality peptide for antibody production, however, will follow these four main tenets:
- Specificity – We ensure the antigen has a low chance of cross-reacting with closely related family members or proteins from a similar class.
- Antigenicity – This gives the antigen the best chance of producing a strong, measurable response. Our average ELISA titer across all projects is >1:1,000,000.
- Structure – Sequences are designed to mimic the normal protein structure as well as possible to generate antibodies that have the best chance to bind to the protein (not only the peptide) across multiple assay formats.
- Impediments to binding – A complete bioinformatic analysis is run to determine what natural aspects of the protein may get in the way of the eventual antibody being able to bind. This includes protein modifications, folding, interactions with other entities, etc.
There will be times when conflicts of interest can arise between what we know to work best for a given situation and the type of reactivity you may have been initially looking for in a custom antibody. Rest assured that in those cases we not only have the integrity to let you know, but we will also work with you to find the best compromise to fit your needs.
The design process (included in all projects) is only one of the benefits you gain from working with us. Our dedication to fast, helpful service is another. Whether you have a project with layers of special design and in-process work, or you have a purified protein you wish to send us for the generation of anti-sera, we treat you like you are the only customer we have.
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