The Protein Man's Blog | A Discussion of Protein Research

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INTRODUCTION:

Knowing the amount of dye conjugated to a protein is essential for predicting the amount of dye required for an experiment and for ensuring good control of fluorescence between experiments.

The following blog post explains how to calculate the degree of protein labeling by a selection of dyes by using protein and dye absorbances.

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INTRODUCTION:

Isolation of glycoproteins from protein solutions is routinely performed on concanavalin A (Con A) agarose (or sepharose). Con A is used for the purification of glycoproteins, polysaccharides and glycolipids as it binds molecules containing α-D-mannopyranosyl, α-D-glucopyranosyl and sterically related residues. Con A agarose has also be used in other application areas including purification of enzyme-antibody conjugates, purification of IgM and separation of membrane vesicles.

Con A is a metalloprotein and to maintain its binding characteristics the presence of both Mn²⁺ and Ca²⁺ is essential. Each subunit of Con A utilizes one calcium and one manganese ion and these cations can be removed under acidic conditions abolishing the carbohydrate-binding activity.

For the elution of bound molecules the preferred method is to use competitive eluents.  Suitable eluents include, but a re not limited to:

• methyl-α-D-mannopyranoside [50-200mM]
• methyl-α-D-glucopyranoside [50-200mM]

Common Elution Techniques are Ineffective!

 Researchers routinely report that they have issues with eluting their protein as seen by lower than expected yields.  This reduced yield also reduces the column capacity.

While both monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies can be used in a wide variety of applications including Western blot, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), immunoprecipitation, immunofluorescence, immunocytochemistry, Biochip technology and in the diagnosis of disease, they each have their own advantages which make them useful for different applications. To determine which type of antibodies should be used for a particular application, let us try to understand the difference between the two.

Recombinant antibodies (rAbs) are monoclonal antibodies which are generated in vitro using synthetic genes. Unlike monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) which are produced using traditional hybridoma-based technologies, rAbs do not need hybridomas and animals in the production process.