Recombinant antibodies
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Achieve the reproducible results your project demands with recombinant antibodies.
Updated August 15th, 2022
Recombinant manufacture involves cloning antibody-coding genes into high-yield expression vectors, which are subsequently introduced into expression hosts.
The advantages of using recombinantly manufactured antibodies
Recombinantly manufactured antibodies are primary antibodies that overcome the limitations of other methods of antibody manufacture, such as genetic drift, which can lead to slight variations in the final antibody produced. Antibodies against difficult targets, ie toxins, nucleotides, and membrane-bound proteins, can’t always be made with this in vivo model either. Using recombinantly manufactured antibodies gives you the following:
- The highest level of consistency between batches
- Improved sensitivity and confirmed specificity
- Ease of scalability and continuity of supply
- High-throughput in vitro manufacture
1. The highest level of consistency between batches
Recombinant antibody production is controlled and made reliable using a unique set of genes. This leads to antibodies with high batch-to-batch consistency, meaning you can achieve the highly reproducible results your research or drug development research requires.
Figure 1. Batch-to-batch reproducibility in the localization of PD-L1 in FFPE human placenta across five batches of our anti-PD-L1 [28-8] recombinant rabbit monoclonal antibody (ab205921). IHC was performed manually using a Biocare Decloaking Device and Universal HIER antigen retrieval reagent (ab208572). The primary antibody was incubated overnight at 4°C, followed by goat anti-rabbit secondary antibody and HRP-linked anti-goat polymer antibody (ab209101). DAB was used as a chromogen with a Hematoxylin counterstain.
See more data on the reproducibility of our recombinant anti-PD-L1 antibody.
High affinity, consistent between different batches
KD value is a quantitative measure of antibody affinity. The lower the KD value, the higher the affinity of the antibody. Analysis of KD values of our recombinant anti-PDL1 antibody shows that its affinity remains high across five different batches (Table 1).
Table 1. Analysis of KD values for five different batches of our recombinant anti-PD-L1 antibody [28-8] (ab205921). To learn more about KD value, check out our KD guide.
Antibody | KD (M) |
PD-L1_batch 1 | 4.74E-11 |
PD-L1_batch 2 | 3.83E-11 |
PD-L1_batch 3 | 2.04E-11 |
PD-L1_batch 4 | 2.40E-11 |
PD-L1_batch 5 | 2.13E-11 |
2. Improved sensitivity and confirmed specificity
Because the selection process for the desired clone occurs at both the hybridoma and recombinant cloning stages, we can select antibodies with the most favorable qualities for you. In addition, to give you added confidence in your results, we use extensive validation methods, including knock-out validation, to ensure the specificity of our recombinant antibodies.
On average, our recombinant antibodies have KD values in the picomolar (10-10–10-12) range, which is considered to be a very high affinity. High-affinity antibodies allow greater sensitivity in assays as they bind strongly to the antigen and maintain this bond better under difficult conditions compared to low-affinity antibodies.
The following example demonstrates the differences in specificity between recombinant antibodies and other antibody types:
Figure 2. Our recombinant anti-GRIM19 [EPR4471(2)] antibody (left) being tested on knock-out and wild-type samples against our monoclonal anti-GRIM19 [6E1BH7] antibody.
3. Ease of scalability and continuity of supply
Recombinant manufacture relies on cloning antibody genes into expression vectors. This means antibody expression can be carried out at any scale with guaranteed long-term supply giving you added peace of mind and continuity for projects of all sizes, making recombinant antibodies a great solution for long-term studies, or using the same antibody across multiple samples.
4. High-throughput in vitro manufacture
Once the antibody-producing genes are isolated, high-throughput in vitro manufacture can be implemented. For antibodies generated using our phage display technology, even the gene of the antibody can be isolated with an animal-free procedure.
What are recombinant monoclonal antibodies?
Recombinant antibodies can be produced as monoclonal or multiclonal. A recombinant monoclonal antibody consists of identical antibody chains that target the same epitope. These identical chains increase reproducibility as well as provide a guaranteed supply, improved sensitivity, and confirmed specificity.
What are recombinant multiclonal antibodies?
Recombinant multiclonal antibodies are a defined mixture of carefully selected individual recombinant monoclonal antibodies designed to recognize different epitopes on the same antigen. They are an ideal solution for applications where a polyclonal antibody would traditionally be used and provide the same specificity and reproducibility benefits as recombinant monoclonal antibodies.
The mix of antibodies that make up each one of the recombinant multiclonal antibodies is carefully controlled and consistent between batches. In addition, each recombinant monoclonal antibody included in the mix is developed from a defined set of genes that encode the antibodies with the desired characteristics. These features ensure consistency between batches, giving your work the long-term reproducibility it demands.
A robust replacement for polyclonal antibodies
Because recombinant multiclonal antibodies bind to multiple epitopes on the same target protein, they provide excellent sensitivity, making them suitable for when you need a reagent capable of analyzing low-abundance targets or detecting multiple post-translational modifications at once.
Figures 3 and 4 below compare the sensitivity of a polyclonal and recombinant multiclonal antibody for targets CD133, histone H3 (citrulline R2 + R8 + R17), and GFAP.
Figure 3. Our recombinant anti-Histone H3 (citrulline R2 + R8 + R17) multiclonal antibody [RM1001], ab281584 (left), tested in multiple sample types in western blot against our polyclonal anti-Histone H3 (citrulline R2 + R8 + R17) antibody, ab5103.
Figure 4. Immunofluorescent analysis of mouse primary neural/glia cells labeling GFAP with our recombinant anti-GFAP multiclonal antibody, ab278054 (left), against our polyclonal anti-GFAP antibody, ab7260.
Customer testimonials
Watch our video to hear from your fellow researchers on why they love our recombinant antibodies.
What makes recombinantly manufactured antibodies different
To find out more about what makes recombinantly manufactured antibodies different and how they can benefit your research, watch the short video below:
Filter our recombinant antibody catalog by research area
Find recombinant antibodies to key targets for your research area with our search filters:
1. Click here to view all recombinant antibodies
2. Scroll down until you see the 'Research areas' filter on the left-hand side
3. Choose your research area of interest from the list to find highly validated recombinant antibodies to your key targets
Filter our recombinant antibody catalog by research area
Find recombinant antibodies to key targets for your research area with our search filters:
1. Click here to view all recombinant antibodies
2. Scroll down until you see the 'Research areas' filter on the left-hand side
3. Choose your research area of interest from the list to find highly validated recombinant antibodies to your key targets