Polyclonal antibodies

Polyclonal antibodies are mixtures of various antibodies (in most cases goat, rabbit, mouse or rat ) can be obtained from the serum of immunized animals. By adsorption to an antigen in an affinity chromatography, all antibodies against the different epitopes of an antigen can be purified together, although the antibodies were produced by different B cells.

In contrast, a monoclonal antibody only by clones of a single B cell is prepared, and is therefore directed only to a single epitope of a protein. Polyclonal antibodies represent in contrast to monoclonal antibodies, a natural mixture dar.

Production

In practice, similar to that of the injected active immunization in humans ( see immunization ) to an animal an antigen such as a viral protein, or its gene in an expression vector. The animal then is in an immune response specific antibodies against the foreign protein. The result is a natural mixture of multiple different antibodies which bind with different affinities to each one of the different epitopes of said antigen. The sum of the bond energies between polyclonal antibodies and all epitopes of an antigen is called avidity.

For artificial production of monoclonal antibodies, polyclonal B- cells are required, from which, after fusion to a hybridoma or viral immortalizing the B-cell single monoclonal antibody can be selected (see the preparation of monoclonal antibodies).