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Host animals for antibody development
The most common host animal used to develop polyclonal antibodies is the New Zealand white rabbit. According to your specific requirements, we can propose alternative hosts such as mouse, rat, guinea pig, goat or chicken for anti-protein or anti-peptide antibodies. As the development of anti-PTM antibodies is very specific, only rabbit and mouse are available. You can choose to immunise only one animal for a project, but we recommend to immunise at least two due to the variability of the immune response to a given antigen between individuals.
Monoclonal antibody development projects involve either 4 female BALB/c mice or 2 female Wistar rats. Nevertheless, you can request additional animals to increase the probability of triggering a sufficient immune response and therefore generating positive hybridomas.
All experiments are undertaken by experienced and authorized staff following Health and Safety procedures, established according to the French legislation governing the use of animals in experiments. Our animal house is registered under the reference No C21 464 04 EA.
Available species
Rabbit
New Zealand
Test bleeds: 5 to 15 mL
Final bleed: 50 to 70 mL
Mouse
BALB/c – SJL
Test bleeds: 30 µL
Final bleed: 0.4 to 0.5 mL
Rat
Wistar
Test bleeds: 100 µL
Final bleed: 2.5 to 3 mL
Guinea pig
Dunkin Hartley
Test bleeds: 100 µL
Final bleed: 5 to 6 mL
Goat
Alpine Chamoisée
Test bleeds: 6 to 12 mL
Final bleed: 250 to 350 mL
Chicken
Isa-brown
Test bleeds: 0.5 mL
Final bleed: 6 to 8 mL
Llama
Test bleeds: 6 to 12 mL
Final bleed: 250 to 350 mL
: anti-protein & anti-peptide polyclonal antibody — : anti-PTM polyclonal antibody — : monoclonal antibody
Class Y immunoglobulins
Chickens produce a unique class of immunoglobulins called IgY. These antibodies are functionally equivalent to mammalian IgG and can be isolated from both serum and egg yolk. Development of chicken antibodies is often more convenient and yields higher amounts of antibody than other hosts.
Nevertheless, specific considerations must be taken as regards purification of class Y immunoglobulins. Indeed since IgY do not bind to protein A nor protein G, alternative methods of purification must be carried out.
Camelids immunoglobulins
Camelids also produce unconventional immunoglobulins called heavy chain IgG (hcIgG). Contrary to chicken IgY which differ slightly from IgG, hcIgG have a fundamentally distinct structure that confers them very interesting features for scientific and medical research.
Thanks to our agreements and facilities implanted in Rhône-Alpes (France), we can now offer you this exclusive opportunity to develop camelid antibodies and help you circumvent common problems such as inter-species cross-reactivity, steric hindrance or stability.