The polyclonal antibody is known as pAb. These antibodies are produced in animal bodies by injecting specific kinds of antigens in a lab. Animals like rabbits and goats are used to produce polyclonal antibodies. These animals are being immunized frequently to attain high-quality antibodies precise to the antigen. They are heterogeneous and can produce strong sensitivity ranges during different applications.
Duration To Produce pAbs
Just in a few months, the polyclonal antibodies get formed and are ready to be collected from the animal antiserum. Polyclonal antibodies are formed easily and take less time compared to monoclonal antibodies. Thus, pAbs are cheaper than mAbs.
Benefits of Using pAbs
· Polyclonal antibodies take the least time to get produced and are available at a low cost.
· Such antibodies are highly tolerant to pH and buffer changes. They are very stable too.
· These antibodies have a high power of affinity and can bind to multiple epitopes at one time.
· pAbs help amplify signal strength from the target protein. Thus, pAbs are perfect for immunoprecipitation as well as chromatin immunoprecipitation.
These antibodies can tolerate minor changes in antigen and remain less sensitive.
How do Polyclonal Antibodies work?
The polyclonal antibody is considered an ideal reagent in diagnostic assessments and hemagglutination reactions because of its strength to identify various epitopes of a targeted molecule. pAb can detect unknown antigens very easily and quite faster. It is a secondary antibody. It helps detect signals from antigens better than mAbs. Moreover, it gets bonded with different epitopes and increases signal strength during immunoassays.
Conclusion,
Polyclonal antibodies are easier to produce. It takes easy purification methods (chromatography) compared to mAbs. Such antibodies are very powerful to detect various antigens at a single time. These antibodies are highly used for transplant patients as an immunosuppressant. Even, they are widely used in therapeutic applications because of their heterogeneous binding competence.
