Immunoprecipitation
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Immunoprecipitation allows the investigator to detect and quantitate antigens in a mixture of proteins or characterize a specific
antibody response to already well-characterized proteins. Addition of antibodies to proteins, usually radiolabeled, allows
formation of antigen—antibody complexes. After separation from contaminating proteins, the complexes are disassociated and
the proteins of interest are separated by sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Size and
quantity of proteins may then be analyzed either by autoradiography or a gel scanning procedure. Immunoprecipitation is extremely
sensitive and may detect very small amounts of radiolabeled protein (detection level ~100 pg protein or 100 cpm/protein).
Unlabeled proteins may be used if other sensitive detection methods are utilized, e.g., enzymatic activity assays or Western
blotting. The advantage of the immunoprecipitation technique vs immunoblotting is the possibility to analyze the immune response
to proteins expressed in their native conformation. Radioimmunoprecipitation assay (RIPA) is used routinely for the detection
of viral proteins, characterization of monoclonal and polyclonal antibody preparations, and determination of the specificity
of the immune response to various pathogens (1–3).
Affiliation(s): (2) Department of Virology, Swedish Institute for Infectious Diseases Control, Stockholm, Sweden
Book Title: Molecular Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases
Series: Methods in Molecular Medicine | Volume: 13 | Pub. Date: Dec-18-1997 | Page Range: 15-28 | DOI: 10.1385/0-89603-485-2:15
Subject: Infectious Diseases
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