Custom peptide antibody production is a specialized form of custom antibody development that focuses on creating antibodies using short synthetic peptide antigens. Unlike whole proteins, peptides are relatively small and can be easily targeted by the immune system. This makes them ideal for producing high-titer, highly specific antibodies that are required in complex and often labor intensive immunodetection applications such as flow cytometry and ELISA.

The first step in this process involves the design of a unique peptide sequence that is recognized by the immune system. A number of bioinformatics algorithms can be used to select the optimal peptide sequence for your project based upon a range of factors including amino acid length, hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity, surface area and flexibility.

Custom Peptide Antibody Production: Tailored Solutions for Unique Research Needs

Once a peptide sequence has been designed, it can be synthesised by solid phase peptide synthesis starting from the poly-lysine core. The resulting peptide is then covalently linked to a carrier protein such as Key Limphole Hemocyanin, Bovine Serum Albumin, or Ovalbumin. Conjugation can be performed at the -NH2, -COOH, -SH, and -OH groups to maximize antigen presentation.

This peptide-carrier conjugate is then incubated with animal cells to generate monoclonal antibodies. Depending on the nature of your application, it may be necessary to screen for cloned cell lines and their corresponding monoclonal antibodies to ensure that the target antibody is being generated. This process is significantly lengthier than the cloning and propagation of antibody-secreting cells, however, it provides excellent control over the quality of mAbs that are produced and can be highly beneficial for projects with limited budgets.