Frequently Asked Questions
What is the format of your antibodies? Which antibody host species can I choose?
ABCD antibodies are mini-antibodies, with the antigen-binding domain (as a single chain, or scFv) fused to an Fc domain (scFv-Fc). For more information, check the page Production format.
The standard Fc domains are human IgG1, mouse IgG2, rabbit IgG or guinea pig IgG. If you need additional Fcs, do not hesitate to contact us (antibodies@unige.ch)
How are ABCD antibodies produced?
Our antibodies are produced in HEK293 suspension cells, growing in serum-free medium, transiently transfected with an expression vector coding for the antibody.
What will I find inside the antibody vial?
Each vial contains 100 μg of non-purified cell supernatant (+0.02% sodium azide). The concentration is variable and dependent on each antibody, and written on the vial (given in mg/L, or μg/ml).
The variation in antibody concentration is due to the fact that every antibody is custom-produced and, as such, produced with very different and unpredictable yields. Standard yields are between 20 and 150 mg/L. However, in some cases, only low or very low amounts of antibody are produced. In this case, you can choose to not use this antibody, and reimbursement or production of a new antibody are the options we offer. Be aware that many antibodies, although they are produced with low yields, do recognise specifically their target antigen.
Why are ABCD Antibodies not purified?
At ABCD Antibodies, we do not purify our antibodies for several reasons. First, purification of antibodies often affects the quality of antibodies, decreasing their affinity or inducing their aggregation. Second, our standard antibody concentrations (20-150 μg/ml) are largely sufficient since most laboratory procedures require much lower concentrations (<1-5 μg/ml). Third, the use of serum-free and BSA-free production medium ensures that antibodies are by far the most abundant protein in the cell supernatants.
If your experiment does require purification of an antibody, do not hesitate to contact us.
How can I store the antibodies?
Antibodies are delivered in a medium containing 0.02% sodium azide. Up to 6 months from the date of shipment, antibodies can be stored at 4 °C. For longer storage, we recommend making small aliquots and storing at -20 °C.
For what applications have ABCD antibodies been tested?
For each antibody, we show a non-exhaustive list of applications found in the literature. The absence of an application does not mean that the antibody will not work, only that is has not been tested or described.
The ABCD recombinant antibodies are reformatted versions of the original published antibodies. Reformatting can modify the properties of antibodies. If there is no published description for a specific antibody as a mini-antibody, we recommend that you characterize its reactivity.
We strongly encourage users to publish any results (positive or negative) obtained with ABCD antibodies, for example in the technical journal Antibody Reports.
Do my secondary reagents recognize your antibodies?
For all practical purposes, a mini-antibody is essentially used as a standard IgG antibody, and can be used with all standard secondary reagents that recognize the constant heavy chain.
The only secondary reagent that will not recognize a mini-antibody is one specifically recognizing the constant domain of the light chain (CL).
