Apoptosis

By Eric Neeley

The loading controls on our antibody database are widely used in gel electrophoresis and Western blotting studies. Products like the GAPDH antibody detect "housekeeping" proteins which are abundantly distributed in cells. This makes them useful for checking the even loading of gel samples, and the even transfer of proteins at the blotting stage. They also serve a purpose in quality control, by verifying reagents are working correctly, and in the standardization of experimental results.

The Survivin antibody is widely used in apoptosis studies, and as a cellular marker. Today, biochemists have a wide range of Survivin antibody products to choose from, suitable for use in Western Blot, Chromatin Immunoprecipitation (ChIP), Immunofluorescence and similar assays.

We at Novus Biologicals place a lot of emphasis on the kinase signaling pathways. Kinases, or phosphotransferase enzymes play a key role in phosphorylation signaling. Over 500 human protein kinases have so far been discovered. They play essential roles in glucose metabolism, apoptosis, lipid transport, cell migration, cellular differentiation and other cellular functions.

Bax is a member of the Bcl-2 family; an extensive range of proteins which play key roles in apoptosis, or programmed cell death, by regulating outer mitochondrial membrane permeability. We at Novus Biologicals are one of the leading antibody suppliers for apoptosis research, with an extensive range of Bax antibody products.

Tumor necrosis factor alpha, or TNF alpha antibody products are widely used in cytokine and immunology research. TNF alpha is a pleiotropic ligand which plays an essential role in apoptosis, immune system development and the inflammatory response.

Ubiquitin is a small, highly conserved protein which plays an important role in protein breakdown, covalently bonding to proteins to mark them for proteolytic degradation in a process called ubiquitination. Ubiquitin also binds to inclusion bodies (accumulations of protein) in pathological conditions such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer's disease.

The enzymes of the Matrix Metalloproteinase (MMP) family assist in the degradation of the extracellular matrix, under both normal and pathological conditions. MMP antibodies have identified roles in a number of physiological processes, such as embryonic development and tissue remodelling. They also regulate enzyme cascades, expression of various proteins and the migration of both normal and malignant cells.

Survivin (BRIC5) is an inhibitor of apoptosis that also promotes cellular adaptation under stressful conditions and helps to regulate cell division. Recently, an antibody study by Dr. H Wang et al. at Brown University [PMID: 20826784] found that Survivin is acetylated at lysine residue 129, thereby affecting its subsequent subcellular localization.

COX IV isoform 1 is a nuclear-encoded polypeptide chain of the Cytochrome C Oxidase enzyme, located on the mitochondrial inner membrane. Owing to its widespread distribution in human and mammalian tissues, COX IV antibodies are widely used as loading controls for immunological assays.