Immunochemical Protocols

Molecular biologists can no longer afford to be experts in only one par- ticular area. They need to be equally competent at handling DNA, RNA, and proteins, moving from one area to another as required by the problem. Ad- vances in the field have been greatly helped by numerous applications of antibody-antigen interactions, so that a basic knowledge of immunology has now become useful. The emphasis of Immunochemical Protocols is not on the production of antibodies, since many people will beg or buy these, but rather on the enor- mous range of applications to which these powerful reagents can be put. For completeness, however, methods are included for the production of both polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies. Techniques that may be helpful in obtaining antibodies to elusive antigens and to synthetic peptides are also provided. Both qualitative and quantitative methods are described for local- izing, characterizing, and quantifying various antigens. These range from the use of antibodies in screening DNA libraries to their application in EUSA assays for quantifying adducts in alkylated DNA Each method is described by an author who has regularly used the tech- in his or her own laboratory. Not all the techniques necessarily repre- nique sent the state-of-the-art-they are, however, all dependable methods that regularly achieve the desired result. Each chapter starts with a brief description of the basic theory behind the technique being described. The main aim of this book, however, is to outline the practical steps necessary for carrying out the method successfully.