Lecture 8 - Antibodies & Western Blots

Question 1

How can antibodies be used in bio-imaging?

Answer 1

• Antibodies can “decorate” cellular structures specifically.
• In fixed cells, this decoration allows the visualization of cytological features like the cytoskeleton.
• The primary antibody needs to be detected by a secondary antibody that is coupled (bonded) to a fluorophore.
• Alternatively, and at greater expense, a fluorophore can be directly coupled to the primary antibody.
• Antibodies can be combined w/ other forms of detection (GFP tagging, staining) to reveal multiple complexes in the same cell.