Although traditionally the species par excellence for obtaining monoclonal antibodies has been the mouse, rabbit monoclonal antibodies are a booming alternative that is gaining more and more ground among the scientific community.
You know why? In this post we tell you about the advantages offered by rabbit monoclonal antibodies compared to those generated in mice, and the cases in which their use is recommended.
Advantages Of Rabbit Monoclonal Antibodies
- In those cases in which it is intended to use a mouse protein as an antigen or when the target protein is highly conserved between the original organism and the mouse, the capacity to awaken an immune response in it after immunization is very low. That is why rabbit monoclonal antibodies are a good alternative when it comes to this type of protein.
- Rabbits, unlike mice, have the ability to generate a greater immune response against small epitopes. Therefore, rabbit monoclonal antibodies are suitable when looking for specific recognition of post-translational modifications (eg phosphospecific antibodies), small molecules (toxins, hormones, etc.) or small non-protein molecules (eg carbohydrates).
- Another advantage that rabbits present for the production of monoclonal antibodies is their ability to generate a greater range of high-affinity antibodies (it can be between 10-100 times greater than the affinity of mouse monoclonal antibodies), and with higher specificity , which allows higher working dilutions to be used.
When Is The Use Of Rabbit Monoclonal Antibodies Recommended?
- When seeking recognition of new epitopes.
- To discern small structural variations between two antigens.
- To detect post-translational modifications.
- For performing immunohistochemistry (IHC) assays with low background noise, as well as for immunofluorescence and flow cytometry .
- When the antibody is to be used with mouse tissues and proteins, to avoid cross-reactions and background noise produced by secondary anti-mouse antibodies.
In conclusion, rabbit monoclonal antibodies combine, on the one hand, the advantages of monoclonal antibodies in terms of specificity and reproducibility, and on the other, those that offer the characteristics of the rabbit’s immune system in terms of their greater capacity for antigenic recognition and generation of higher affinity antibodies.