How much of specific antibody can be found in serum?

One of the most commonly asked questions is: how much of the antigen-specific antibody (against a given protein or other antigen) is there in serum?
The answer is that it varies between antibody productions, and that in serum, the specific antibody amount is not determined. When serum is subjected to affinity purification on Protein A or G, it yields a total immunoglobulin fraction, with the specific antibody constituting 0.5-5 % of the total antibody pool. 

Most antigen-specific antibodies are purified in a process called antigen affinity purification, where serum is passed through a column of beads coupled to the antigen (protein or peptide). Such an antibody format is most suitable for immunolocalization, immunoprecipitation and ChIP. The amount of specific antibody/tube will be the highest in antigen-purified serum antibody format.
 Technical blog

Technical blog


Close