Antibody News

Co-factor of BRCA1, also known as COBRA1, was first identified as a protein that binds to the tumour suppressor protein encoded by the breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA1 (1). It was subsequently found to be identical to subunit B of the Negative Elongation Factor (NELF) complex (2). NELF is composed of four subunits (A, B, C or D, and E) and plays a pivotal role in the transcriptional pausing of RNA polymerase II.

Broadly speaking there are three main steps to transcription – initiation, elongation and termination. Each step is tightly controlled, with NELF being one of the major factors to regulate elongation. NELF and DSIF (DRB-Sensitivity Inducing Factor) bind to RNA Polymerase II once it is downstream of the promoter sequence of the target gene, which results in transcriptional pausing. Various activators of...

The SM047 antibody is an IgM monoclonal antibody that was developed by McCluggage's group at the UK Royal Group of Hospitals and recognizes a multivalent antigen from ovarian carcinoma (OvC) cells (1). Early studies indicate that the epitope is specifically expressed in the adenocarcinoma glycocalyx, and is most strongly expressed in serous OvC subtypes. Further work has established the SM047 antibody as an ovarian-specific immunohistochemical (IHC) marker within a larger panel capable of distinguishing between adenocarcinomas of non-mucinous versus colonic origin.  The creators of the SM047 antibody have also successfully investigated similar diagnostic applications in patient peritoneal fluid cytological preparations (2).

Carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) is a member of the carbonic anhydrase family - enzymes that enable the rapid conversion of carbon dioxide and water into carbonic acid, protons, and bicarbonate ions. Carbonic anhydrases have a widespread role in regulating pH in normal tissues and are abundantly found in all mammalian tissues. CAIX itself is one of the most hypoxically-inducible genes due to its stability and membrane location. It has become a reliable hypoxia histochemical marker, as well as an important diagnostic marker for various cancers, most notably renal cell carcinoma (RCC). A Swiss group used the CAIX antibody in their differential PET imaging studies with tracers in preclinical mouse models (1). These investigators were establishing and monitoring three different osteosarcoma phenotypes for...

Actins are extremely highly conserved structural proteins found in all eukaryotic cell cytoskeletons that govern cell structure, movement, and shape integrity. Six distinct actin isoforms, each encoded by a different gene and developmentally-regulated as well as tissue-specific-regulated, have been identified in mammalian cells. The alpha and beta isotypes are cytoplasmic and expressed in a wide variety of cells. However, expression of the alpha skeletal, alpha cardiac, alpha vascular, and gamma enteric variants are more specialized and restricted to specific muscle cell types. Alpha actin smooth muscle is of particular interest as there are only a small number of genes with expression limited to vascular smooth muscle cells, and can be used as a myofibroblast differentiation marker. The...

GAPDH is a 146 kDa tetramer metabolic enzyme within the glycolytic pathway that reversibly oxidatively phosphorylates glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate. It may have other additional functions in transcriptional activation. It is highly expressed due to its housekeeping functional role, and the prevalent expression of GAPDH has facilitated its use as an internal loading control – traditionally for mRNA expression comparisons – but also in protein studies. GAPDH antibody serves as an excellent standard, and this is reflected in its ubiquitous usage as such in scientific experiments and the literature. The GAPDH antibody and analysis of the tumoricidal protein-lipid complex HAMLET’s effect upon cancer cells demonstrated that HAMLET not only kills cancer cells but also activates an innate immune response in the surrounding tissues through ion...

Fanconi anemia (FANC) is a heterogenous, autosomal-recessive cancer susceptibility genetic disorder that is characterized by a wide array of symptoms, including congenital defects, progressive bone marrow failure due to DNA-damage hypersensitivity, chromosomal instability, and poor DNA repair. The protein FANCD2 is involved in mediating cellular resistance to DNA cross-linking and DNA synthesis arrest that is triggered by ionizing radiation (IR). The FANCD2 antibody was used to further characterize how oxidative stress and damage trigger formation of a multimeric nuclear complex of various FANC gene products, which in turn activates FANCD2 through FANCD2 monoubiquitination (1).  Danish researchers employed the FANCD2 antibody in provocative chromatin spatial colocalization studies (2). Based on their data, they propose that the surveillance of genome regulators (ie...

Beclin 1 is the first mammalian gene identified as a mediator of autophagy, and plays important roles in development, tumorigenesis, and neurodegeneration. Research with the beclin-1 antibody has revealed that, Beclin 1 is found in complex with the the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl2 under normal conditions, and must disassociate from the complex for macroautophagy to be induced in response to cell starvation (1).

Researchers have correlated beclin 1 expression in gastric cells and tissues (via beclin1 antibody immunoblotting) with both clinicopathology and survival rates, and were able to find promising evidence supporting the promising use of beclin1 as a prognostic marker for lymph node-positive gastric cancer patients (2).  A separate oncology...

IRE1 resides in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) as a transmembrane protein with both serine-threonine kinase and endoribonuclease activities. It acts as an unfolded protein response (UPR) sensor through XBP1 transcriptional activation and has been found to have many physiological functions due to the fundamental importance of protein folding. Lipson’s group used the IRE1 antibody in pancreatic beta cells to demonstrate that IRE1 phosphorylation in response to high glucose conditions is coupled to insulin biosynthesis (1). In liver cells, IRE1 antibody was used to show demonstrate that cannabidiol (CBD)-induced apoptosis activates the ER stress response including the IRE1 pathway and other pro-apoptotic pathways including c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) (2). This...

PINK1 is a protein serine/threonine kinase (PTK) that protects the organelles from cellular stress and controls selective autophagy to clear damage. Exner, et. al. were among the first to report that PINK1 deficiency in humans was linked to autosomal recessive occurrences of Parkinson's disease (PD) and neurogenerative pathology (1). They employed RNA interference-mediated down regulation of PINK1 and PINK1 antibody to show that their mitochondrial defect knockdown could be rescued by overexpression of parkin, a ubiquitin-ligase complex component that has also been heavily linked to familial PD.

Glandular tissues synthesise substances for release, such as hormones and enzymes. The term adenocarcinoma is used to describe a cancer that originates within a glandular tissue, for example the ovary.

The incidence of ovarian cancer is low, yet ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynaecological malignancy and typically has a poor prognosis. There are currently known to be more than 30 different types of ovarian cancer, of which approximately 90% originate from epithelial cells. To date, the most well-established biomarker for the diagnosis of ovarian cancer is MUC16, previously known as CA125. However MUC16 is associated with several other pathological conditions and work is on-going to fully elucidate its role in cancer cell growth and disease progression (1). MUC16 is a tumor-associated antigen that is cleaved from the surface of...

CD34 is a cell surface glycoprotein that aids cells in cell-cell adhesion. It is expressed on endothelial cells where it is known to bind L-selectin and may aid in migration of T-cells. Moreover, it is expressed on hematopoietic stem cells (HSC), muscle satellite cells, and endothelial cells and may serve as a cell surface marker for characterizing these cell populations.  Although these cells, including HSCs, are rare, CD34 antibodies facilitate their study by allowing researchers to identify, count, and purify these cells using flow cytometry or FACS.

HSCs that express CD34 are commonly isolated from the bone marrow and blood of adult donors.  Recent studies have examined more efficient means of extracting cells expressing CD34.  In these studies, researchers demonstrated that umbilical cord...