Purifying Antibodies Raised against Xenopus Peptides

Antibody production for work in Xenopus involves the immunization of a host with an antigen, usually a Xenopus protein or peptide alien to the host. The antibody-containing serum, normally returned to the investigator by the company/bioresource unit where it was raised, is comprised of all proteins not used in blood clotting (coagulation) and all the electrolytes, antibodies, antigens, hormones, and any exogenous substances, such as drugs and microorganisms, that were in the blood. It is often necessary to separate the target antibody from the rest of the serum components to minimize nonspecific protein-antibody interactions in downstream applications (e.g., when performing western blotting). Most antibody production companies provide a column containing the peptide coupled to glass beads. A purification procedure for using this type of column (i.e., one that is based on controlled-pore glass beads) is described here.