HOW TO CHOOSE HOST

The choice of host mainly depend on three factors:
     - The properties of the antigen
     - The application
     - The amounts required

Below are the advantages and disadvantages of choosing polyclonal vs. monoclonal antibody production

Polyclonal Antibodies                    vs.

Monoclonal Antibodies
General advantages
General advantages
  • Production time is short (>3 months)
  • Inexpensive to produce
  • Recognized multiple epitopes on the antigen which amplifies the signal from the target protein
  • Gives generally better results in IP /ChIP
  • More tolerant of minor changes in the  antigen (polymorphism, heterogeneity of glycosylation, or slight denaturation)
  • Multiple epitopes generally provide more robust detection
  • Using peptide as antigen can often avoid cross-reactivity to other protein family members of high homology 

General disadvantages
  • May have batch-to-batch variablility. Using peptides as antigens decreases the the batch-to-batch variability.
  • Higher background of non-specific antibodies may be present
  • If using the whole protein as antigen, it may be important to run a homology analysis of the amino acid sequence to assess the risks for cross-reactivity
  • Detects only one epitope on the antigen
  • Once produced, the hybridoma is a renewable source and all batches will be identical
  • Antibodies are useful for consistency and standardization of experimental procedures
  • Potentially less background






General disadvantages
  • Production time is long for hybridoma generation (<6 months)
  • More expensive than polyclonal antibody production, due to higher technology
  • Specific antibodies do often not cross-react to other species
  • There are cases when hybridomas loose their expression of the antibody. As an insurance, precious antibodies should be sequenced
  • More prone to precipitation in high concentrations
  • Less tolerant of minor changes of the epitope, due to chemical treatment of the antigen in processing
Below are the most common reasons for choosing a particular host in polyconal production.

Why Choose Goat?

Goat is a good choice
  • when you need a larger production of antibodies, for example for diagnostics or pre-clinical trials or core research
  • when the antigen, to which the antibody you are planing on producing, is central to your research or long-term project. You will recieve a good amount of material from the same animal/-s. This way you will limit your batch-to-batch variation and the same material can be used for decades to come.
  • when most of your other antibodies are made in rabbit. This allows double stainings and other applications where antibodies of different species are required
  • when you are designing a diagnostic assay containing antibodies made in two different species (For example Goat being "catcher" and Mouse or Rabbit being "detector").
  • when the antigen is somewhat conserved. Evolutionary, goat is further away in comparison to rabbit and man. For very conserved proteins, we recommend generation of antibodies in hen.

Why Choose Rabbit?

Rabbit is a good choice
  • when you need a smaller production of antibodies
  • when you need to perform pilot studies
  • when you are designing a diagnostic assay including antibodies made in two different species (For example Goat as "catcher" and Mouse or Rabbit being "detector").

Why Choose Hen/IgY?

Hen/Chicken is a good choice
  • when you need a small or a large production of antibodies
  • when you need to perform pilot studies
  • when your antigen is highly conserved amoung species.
  •  when most of your antibodies are made in rabbit. Choosing hen IgY will allow you to perform double immunostainings
  • when you have a small budget
  • if you want to use the antibody in vivo, as IgY does not activate mammalian complement systems
  • when there are advantages in using antibodies lacking the "Fc domain". IgY do not bind to mammalian Fc receptors. The mammalian Fc domain also binds "rheumatoid factors". 

Free Consultation

If you would like to discuss the choice of host with our antibody experts, you are welcome to contact us. This consultation is completely free. We look forward to hearing from you.

Other Parameters Affecting Anitbody Quality and Yield