Immunoscreening is a method of

biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...

used to detect a

polypeptide Peptides (, ) are short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. Long chains of amino acids are called proteins. Chains of fewer than twenty amino acids are called oligopeptides, and include dipeptides, tripeptides, and tetrapeptides ...

produced from a cloned

gene In biology, the word gene (from , ; "... Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a b ...

. The term encompasses several different techniques designed for protein identification, such as

Western blotting The western blot (sometimes called the protein immunoblot), or western blotting, is a widely used analytical technique in molecular biology and immunogenetics to detect specific proteins in a sample of tissue homogenate or extract. Besides detecti ...

, using recombinant DNA, and analyzing antibody-peptide interactions. Clones are screened for the presence of the gene product: the resulting protein. This strategy requires first that a gene library is implemented in an expression vector, and that antiserum to the protein is available. Radioactivity or an enzyme is coupled generally with the secondary antibody. The radioactivity/enzyme linked secondary antibody can be purchased commercially and can detect different antigens. In commercial diagnostics labs, labelled primary antibodies are also used. The antigen-antibody interaction is used in the immunoscreening of several diseases.Mukerjee S, McKnight ME, Glassy MC. Immunoscreening protocols for the identification of clinically useful antibodies and antigens. Expert Opin Investig Drugs. 1998 Mar;7(3):373-89. doi: 10.1517/13543784.7.3.373. PMID 15991979.

References

Biotechnology {{Biotech-stub

See also

References