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Secondary antibodies are generated by immunizing a host animal with an antibody from a different species. For example, anti-mouse antibodies are raised by injecting specific purified mouse antibody into an animal other than a mouse. Goat, donkey, sheep, chicken and rabbit are the most commonly used host species for raising secondary antibodies, but we also offer additional specifies such as horse, llama, cat, cow, dog etc.
Read on to learn more about (1) choosing secondary antibodies, (2) how secondary antibodies are generated, and (3) purifying secondary antibodies, e.g., affinity-purified and cross-adsorbed antibodies.
Sometimes typical secondary antibodies are either too specific (e.g., recognize only one host species of primary antibody) or too general (e.g., recognize whole IgG and any fragments thereof). In most cases, these limitations can be overcome by carefully designing the experimental system and choosing the appropriate secondary probe.
The following considerations are useful to consider when choosing a secondary antibody:
Target species | Abbreviation | Species antibody target pages |
---|---|---|
Bovine | Bv | Anti-Bovine Secondary Antibodies |
Canine | Ca | Anti-Canine Secondary Antibodies |
Chicken | Ck | Anti-Chicken Secondary Antibodies |
Donkey | Do | Anti-Donkey Secondary Antibodies |
Feline | Fe | Anti-Feline Secondary Antibodies |
Goat | Gt | Anti-Goat Secondary Antibodies |
Guinea Pig | GP | Anti-Guinea Pig Secondary Antibodies |
Hamster | Hm | Anti-Hamster Secondary Antibodies |
Human | Hu | Anti-Human Secondary Antibodies |
Horse | Eq | Anti-Horse Secondary Antibodies |
Monkey | Nhp | Anti-Monkey Secondary Antibodies |
Mouse | Ms | Anti-Mouse Secondary Antibodies |
Rabbit | Rb | Anti-Rabbit Secondary Antibodies |
Rat | Rt | Anti-Rat Secondary Antibodies |
Sheep | Ov | Anti-Sheep Secondary Antibodies |
Pig | Po | Anti-Pig Secondary Antibodies |
The most common types of secondary antibodies are those generated against a pooled population of immunoglobulins from a target species. For example, immunizing a goat with purified mouse IgG will generate goat anti-mouse IgG antibodies that will bind to all classes, heavy and light chains (H&L) and fragments of mouse IgG, as well as any other molecules sharing the same conserved domains (e.g., IgM share the same kappa light chains as IgG). In contrast, immunizing a goat with only mouse IgG1 antibodies will only generate antibodies specific for mouse IgG1 antibodies and molecules sharing the same conserved domains.
Because of the high degree of conservation in the structure of many immunoglobulin domains, class-specific secondary antibodies must be affinity purified and cross-adsorbed to achieve minimal cross-reaction with other immunoglobulins. Using the example described above, immobilized mouse IgG1 antibodies would be used to affinity purify all goat antibodies that bind to mouse IgG1. These anti-mouse IgG1 antibodies would then be further purified by passage through a chromatography column(s) containing mouse IgG2a, IgG2b, IgG3, IgM, etc., to remove any antibodies that cross-react with non-IgG1 isotypes.
Additionally, secondary antibodies can be further purified by passage through columns containing the immobilized serum proteins from species other than those used to immunize the host. This method of cross-absorption (referred to as "Cross-Adsorbed") is an additional purification step recommended for applications where primary antibodies from multiple species will be used and when immunoglobulins or other serum proteins may be present in the samples being probed.
For Research Use Only. Not for use in diagnostic procedures.