Biotinylation of Antibodies

The high affinity and specificity of the avidin-biotin interaction permit diverse applications in immunology, histochemistry, in situ hybridizations, affinity chromatography, and many other areas ( 1 ) ( see Chapters 25 and 26). It was first exploited in immunocytochemical applications in the mid-1970s ( 2 , 3 ), and has since been commonly used to localize antigens in cells and tissues. In this technique, a biotinylated primary or secondary antibody is first applied to the sample, and the detection is accomplished by using labeled avidin. Avidin with a variety of labels are available commercially, including fluorescent, enzyme, iodine, ferritin, or gold labels. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.