Custom Services- IgY Production
Overview
- Within 60 days (during which time the hens are immunized 4 times), you will receive 0.5 gram purified (>90% pure) IgY from your immunized hen (as well as a pre-immune IgY sample).
- This service is designed to provide researchers with a quick supply of sufficient custom chicken antibody to carry out a research project. An immunization/production schedule is provided for every project.
- See our selection of Anti-Chicken Immunoglobulin Secondary Reagents
- Hens are housed and eggs are collected for an additional 2 weeks following delivery. At this time, the customer may choose to purchase more IgY.
Want to Start a Project?
How much antigen should you ship us?
We recommend immunization with, between 0.5 and 2 milligrams of purified or recombinant protein per hen and prefer a concentration of at least 2 mg/ml. If possible, please supply us with 4 vials of immunogen (for 4 immunizations), the first vial (for the primary immunization) with twice as much antigen as the others. If you would like your IgY affinity purified, we need an additional 5 mg protein at a concentration greater than 3 mg/ml to make an affinity column.
Where do you ship your antigen?
Ship your purified immunogen, recombinant protein or peptide conjugate to us at:
Exalpha Biologicals, Inc.
2 Shaker Road, Unit B101
Shirley, MA 01464
As soon as we start the immunization, we will e-mail you an immunization/production schedule so you’ll know exactly when you can expect your custom IgY.
Do you want us to make your peptide(s)?
You may order your custom IgY production on-line or by calling us with your request on +1 (978) 425-1370. Approximately 3 to 4 weeks after you place your peptide order, we will be contacting you by e-mail with your immunization/production schedule.
Do you want us to Affinity Purify your Custom IgY?
Please have a look at our Affinity Purification page
If you want affinity-purified IgY from 2 hens immunized with a peptide that we synthesize and conjugate to KLH, please contact us for pricing.
Industrial Quantities
Overview
For those customers requiring large scale production of IgY, we can meet your specific requirements. All laboratory work is performed using standard operating procedures to assure the highest quality of your custom product depending on your immunogen, how much IgY is required and over what time-frame, we will design a custom project that will suit your needs.
For bulk quantities of IgY, we usually recommend multiple hen immunizations and the pooling of their eggs for IgY purification. Following our standard immunization protocol (4 immunizations over 40 days), hens receive a booster shot every 70 days to maintain a high titre yolk.
Want to Start a Project?
How much antigen should you ship us?
We recommend immunization with, between 0.5 and 2 milligrams of purified or recombinant protein per hen and require a concentration of at least 2 mg/ml. If possible, please supply us with 4 vials of immunogen (for 4 immunizations), the first vial (for the primary immunization) with twice as much antigen as the others. If you would like your IgY affinity purified (please see below), we need additional protein at a concentration greater than 3 mg/ml to make an affinity column. The amount of extra protein required depends on the size of the affinity column that will be made. This depends on the amount of affinity IgY that is required.
Where do you ship your antigen?
Ship your purified immunogen, recombinant protein or peptide conjugate to us at:
Exalpha Biologicals, Inc.
2 Shaker Road, Unit B101
Shirley, MA 01464
As soon as we start the immunization, we will e-mail you an immunization/production schedule so you’ll know exactly when you can expect your custom IgY.
Do you want us to make your peptide(s)?
Please have a look at our “Peptide synthesis” page and give us a call on +1 (978) 425-1370 to place your order. Approximately 3 to 4 weeks after you place your peptide order, we will be contacting you by e-mail with your immunization/production schedule.
Do you want us to Affinity Purify your Custom IgY?
The IgY that you receive from our standard protocol is approximately 90% pure IgY, containing all the IgY specificities that are present in the hen’s circulation and transferred to her egg.
The specific activity (percentage of IgY that is directed against your antigen) of this IgY fraction depends on the immunogenicity of your antigen and the genetic make-up of the immunized hen. It is reasonable to expect between 2 and 10% specific activity of IgY from a hen immunized with a non-avian protein greater than 50 kilodaltons. Expect less than 1% specific activity to a peptide from a hen immunized with peptide — KLH (there will be a much higher specific activity directed to the carrier KLH portion of the immunogen). For many applications, this IgY will work just fine and it is unnecessary to further purify your IgY. In fact, further purification may result in the loss of your highest avidity antibodies.
However, for most industrial uses, it is often necessary to remove the IgY antibodies that are not antigen specific and this is done by making an “antigen column” to which the whole IgY fraction is applied. The IgY you receive is the antigen-specific IgY that is eluted from the column. The amount of immunogen required to make your affinity column depends on how much affinity purified IgY is needed for your project. Please contact us and we’d be happy to discuss this with you.
Do you want your affinity-purified IgY Antibody Labeled?
Let us label your affinity-purified IgY for you. The most popular labels are horseradish peroxidase (HRP), fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC), biotin and agarose  but other labels are available. Please contact us to provide a quote for your project.