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

The availability of purified antibodies is essential to various applications. While there are various methods of purification, affinity chromatography is the most popular antibody purification technique.

In 1975, Porath developed Immobilized Metal Affinity Chromatography (IMAC). It is based on the interaction of specific protein residues, including histidines, cysteines, and occasionally, tryptophans, with cations of transition metals.

A proteome is a sum total of all the cellular proteins, this would include housekeeping proteins and proteins that are produced in response to a stimulus. Some proteins are produced only in a given cell type or tissue, others are produced in all cells, some proteins are only produced under certain given conditions adding to the complexity and heterogeneity of proteins in a proteome. Similarly, alternative splicing and post translational modifications all together combined can make the proteome very complex.

There are various methods to enrich or purify proteins of interest from other proteins and components. Most purification methods involve a form of chromatography where molecules in a solution or mobile phase separate based on differences in chemical or physical interaction with a stationary material or solid phase.