Antibody News

Antibody suppliers, such as us at Novus Biologicals, supply a wide range of cell marker products, among them the Osteopontin antibody. Recently, the osteopontin antibody has proven useful in hepatic cancer research.

Osteopontin (OPN) is mainly expressed by the osteoblasts; its primary function is in the mineralization of bone. However, OPN is expressed to a lower degree in other areas of the body, being involved in cell adhesion, cell migration and the inflammatory response.

Osteopontin has been implicated in a number of inflammatory diseases including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), multiple sclerosis and hepatitis. It is also upregulated in a number of cancers. Osteopontin antibody studies have shown OPN is modified in a number of tissue-specific ways, including phosphorylation, glycosylation, sulphation and transglutamination.

...

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is known to be important for neuronal differentiation, survival, migration and plasticity in both the developing embryo and adult synapses. The BDNF antibody is also proving to be an important tool in Alzheimer's disease (AD) research.

AD is characterized by synaptic loss and neurodegeneration. In 2009, A.H Nagahara, et al. used BDNF antibodies in a series of AD animal studies, designed to investigate the possible therapeutic benefits of BDNF when administered as a drug [PMID: 19198615]. BDNF was administered to the brains of rats and primates, specifically targeting the hippocampus and cerebral cortex - two regions which are severely impaired in AD.

...

Novus' Pyruvate Kinase M2 antibody (cat # NBP1-48308) has received some glowing product reviews and customer feedback lately. One satisfied customer wrote, "The best thing about this antibody is that it works well for immunofluorescence staining of frozen sections of rat glioblastoma tumor samples... [The staining] is exactly what we expected. This result further confirms that the antibody is specific for PKM2, and not PKM1."

PKM2 is an important pyruvate kinase that catalyzes the...

A highly conserved, abundant protein found in practically all eukaryotic cells, actin is a monomeric subunit of skeletal muscle thin filaments, and cytoskeleton microfilaments. Actin antibody products are routinely used in cell marker and loading control assays. However, actin antibody reagents are also used for cytoskeleton, cell motility, cytokinesis and cell signalling research. Our antibody catalog covers all the actin isoforms, with an extensive range of alpha, beta and gamma actin antibody products.

Actin antibody studies have revealed polymerization and depolymerization of actin to be essential to chemotaxis (cell motility) and cytokinesis (cell division). Polymerization is dependent upon nucleating factors such as ARP and the formin protein family. The Arp1/2 complex has been...

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a member of the NGF family of neurotrophins. During development it regulates the survival and differentiation of neuronal cell populations in the central and peripheral nervous system, while in adult synapses it is a major regulator of development, plasticity and transmission. We at Novus Biologicals are a leading antibody supplier for neurological research, with an extensive range of BDNF antibodies.

BDNF, like NGF, is a non-covalently linked homodimer, with an identical amino acid sequence in all known mature mammals. It is expressed at high levels in the hippocampus, cerebellum, placenta and fetal eye, and to a lesser extent in the pituitary gland, lung, spinal cord and skeletal and cardiac muscle.

...

Neurofilaments (NFs) are intermediate filaments found almost exclusively in neuronal cells, and play an essential role supporting the cytoskeleton. In vertebrates they are composed of three intertwining polypeptide subunits of varying length and molecular weight – the 68kDa light, 160kDa medium and 200kDa heavy Neurofilament chains. We at Novus Biologicals have an extensive range of top quality neurofilament antibody products in our antibody database.

The three NF chains share similar structures and base sequences, but vary in length and sequence at both the N and C-termini. In NF-H and NF-M subunits, the C-termini form extensions which link neurofilaments both to each other and to other cytoplasmic proteins.

...

The PARP (Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase) protein is a zinc-dependant nuclear enzyme whose main role is to detect and repair DNA single-strand breaks (SSB). However, PARP antibody research has revealed there are at least 17 PARP proteins, which also play a major role in apoptosis (programmed cell death) and post-translational modification. We at Novus Biologicals have an extensive range of PARP antibody products in our antibody catalogu.

PARP is activated in response to metabolic, radiation or chemically-induced DNA SSBs. Once a break is detected, the enzyme binds to the DNA and begins synthesis of a poly ADP-ribose chain, or PAR, utilizing NAD as a substrate. This is done in partnership with other repair proteins including DNA ligase III, DNA polymerase beta and the scaffolding protein...

CD4 is a member of the cluster of differentiation family of proteins, mainly expressed on the surface of thymocytes and a specific subset of mature T-cells. CD4 antibody studies have also shown it expressed on monocytes, cortical cells, microglial cells, dendritic cells and macrophages. The CD4 antibody is widely used in cell marker studies, CD4 being one of the most common CD markers in use. However, the CD4 products in our antibody catalog have also proven useful in cell biology, immunology and cytokine research.

CD4 is a co-receptor for the TCR (T Cell Receptor) heterodimer. It has both intracellular and extracellular domains. The intracellular domain amplifies TCR signalling by activating the tyrosine kinase LCK enzyme, essential to the activated T cell signaling...

The glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase, or GAPDH enzyme plays an important role in the conversion of glucose for energy, catalyzing the sixth step of the glycolytic pathway. A common and widely expressed protein, GAPDH mRNA is often used as a standard in mRNA studies. GAPDH antibody products are also used as a loading control in Western blot assays. We at Novus Biologicals have 55 GAPDH antibody products on our antibody database.

GAPDH catalyses the reversible oxidative phosphorylation of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, yielding D-glycerate 1, 3-bisphosphate in a two-step process which couples phosphorylation to oxidation. Recent GAPDH antibody studies have suggested GAPDH also has a role to play in several non-metabolic processes, including transcription activation, ER to Golgi vessel shuttling and apoptosis. GAPDH is known to bind...

Embryonic stem cells, embryonic germ cells and teratocarcinoma stem cells are fundamental to understanding early embryo development and differentiation. Therefore, antibodies to embryonic cell surface antigens have emerged as powerful tools for characterizing the function and expression of developmentally regulated cells during both embryogenesis and oncogenesis.

SSEA3 and TRA-1-60 are cell-surface proteins, involved in cell differentiation, that serve as useful embryonic stem cell markers. SSEA3 is a carbohydrate moietiy epitope of a unique globo-series ganglioside, associated with a variety of cell surface glycopeptides. TRA-1-60 is associated with a pericellular matrix proteoglycan. SSEA-3 and TRA-1-60 are both expressed on the surface of human teratocarcinoma stem cells, human embryonic germ cells and human embryonic stem cells.

...

Identified almost two centuries ago, Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that afflicts an estimated 4-6 million worldwide (www.parkinsons.org). The prevalence of Parkinson's disease is expected to grow considerably as the average age of the population in developed countries increases.  Despite the hundreds of millions of dollars devoted annually to Parkinson's research, there is relatively little known about the disease and its treatment. For instance, there is currently no test available to clearly identify the disease, no single environmental or genetic factor proven to cause it, and no known cure for those affected. Therefore, Parkinson's research will continue to be an important and growing research area in the foreseeable future. Novus Biologicals offers a number of excellent immunological tools for Parkinson’s studies, particularly...

In rodents, MAP1LC3 (Microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3) is expressed in the renal visceral epithelial cells, or podocytes. LC3 antibody analysis has shown the protein accumulates in its membrane-bound form, LC3II, following conversion from LC3I. LC3II antibodies, therefore, play an important role in autophagy research as useful markers for autophagic activity.

Autophagy is the bulk degradation, or breakdown, of proteins and organelles and is an essential part of normal cellular maintenance, aiding cell growth, differentiation and viability. It, however, is also a feature of many human clinical conditions, including neurodegenerative and neuromuscular disease, cardiomyopathies,...