Can I label a peptide/protein/antibody other than IgG?

Yes. The Lightning-Link® technology works by targeting free amine groups on your target, meaning it can be used to label most biomolecules.As the protocols provided were optimized for labeling IgGs, we would recommend you adjust the amount of material you add to the Lighting-Link® vial to allow for molecular weight difference. This should be done without changing the volume added to the vial, as this could affect the conjugation efficiency. As a rough guideline, we would recommend changing the amount of material proportionally to the size difference with IgGs. An average IgG is about 160kD, therefore for a target that is half the size of an antibody (about 80kD), add half as much to the vial. Please note this is only a guideline and the best amount for your assay should be determined experimentally; our 3x10ug kits enable you to do this using small amounts of material and therefore at a low cost.

Can I use your lightning-link kits to label other proteins rather than antibodies?

Yes, the kits work by using free amines, so as long as you have that the kit should work.

Can non-antibody molecules be labeled?

Yes. While labeling of antibodies is a major application, the only requirement is that the protein to be labeled has amine functionality.

Could you please recommend methods to assess the degree of conjugation (using your Lightning conjugation kit. APC or APC Cy7 or other fluorophore)?

For the Lightning Link conjugation kits, there is no way for us to measure the ratio of conjugate per mg of antibody. The conjugate label binds to all free amines. The conjugation process has an efficiency rate of approximately 95%. As these are kits that we distribute for Innova Biosciences, this is all the data I have regarding efficiency for these labeling kits. If you have any further questions, please let me know and I will contact Innova on your behalf to see if they have any additional data to provide.

Do I need a wash or desalt step?

One of the advantages of the Lightning-Link® technology compared to traditional labeling methods is that conjugate purification is not required. The Lightning-Link® reactions are highly efficient, and the kits have been optimized so that, provided the protocols are followed, there should be only a very low amount of free label left at the end of the conjugation. Any remaining free label would have its reactive 'Lightning-Link®' groups blocked by the Quencher provided in the kit, and would then be washed away during the relevant wash step of your application.

Do I need to purify the conjugate?

No. The chemicals used in Lightning-Link are deactivated by the quencher, and the by-products are benign and do not need to be removed.

Do my antibody and buffer fit the requirements?

Your antibody should be purified (affinity purification is preferred), as other molecules with free amine groups will interfere with the reaction, resulting in a poor quality conjugate. A suitable method of purification should be used (such as affinity or Protein A/G). Please note that 0.2/0.22 um filtration is a method of sterilization, not purification. Your biomolecule should also be in a suitable, 10-50mM amine free buffer (e.g. MES, MOPS, HEPES, PBS), pH range 6.5 to 8.5 and not in any of the following: ascites fluid, serum or tissue culture supernatant. It should not contain any additives such as Azide, BSA, Tris or Glycine at a concentration of >0.1%.The amount of antibody (IgG) you should add to the Lightning-Link® vial usually corresponds to the kit size your purchased (for example: a 3x100ug kit enable you to label 3 lots of 100ug antibody) and the volume added should also match (eg: 100ul), meaning the ideal concentration is of 1mg/ml. For other biomolecule, the amount added should be adjusted by changing your concentration (see above).NOTE: The amount and volume of antibody recommended above are for all Lightning-Link• kits offered by Innova Biosciences, with the exception of RPE and PE tandem dyes. For more details on the recommendations specific to these dyes, please consult the protocols available on each product page.

How many labels will bind to my biomolecule?

It is difficult to give a precise answer to this as the result will vary from antibody to antibody (or other protein). Traditional labelling techniques often have F/P ratios in the range of 4-7:1, and our comparative data for staining with antibodies labelled with Lightning Link shows similar staining intensity. The ratio of dye to antibody is only ever an average for the population of labelled molecules, as individual molecules may have different amount of dye incorporated into them.

How stable will my new conjugate be?

The Lightning-Link® chemistry joins the label to the antibody via a uni directional stable, covalent bond. The stability of your conjugate will therefore be dependent on your antibody and label of choice. In our in-house studies, conjugates made with our Lightning-Link® kits were fully active after more than 18 months' storage, undiluted, at 4 degrees C. Conjugates stored in 50% glycerol at -20 degrees C were found to be even more stable (several years). Please see below for advice on storage conditions. Please note that tandem dye stability is lower than the other dyes'. Tandem conjugates are fully stable for about 3 months at 4 degrees C.

What are the best storage conditions for my new conjugate?

TA new conjugate can be stored for 12-18 months at 4 degrees C as long as the antibody will tolerate storage at 4 degrees C. As the bond between the antibody and dye is covalent and very stable, it should not degrade, therefore at 4 degrees C no additional preservatives are needed. The antibody is usually the least stable component of the conjugate so please check the antibody datasheet for storage recommendations. However, all conjugates can be stored in 50% glycerol at -20 degrees C which allows them to remain stable for 2 years. Please bear in mind that APC and RPE conjugates should never be stored at -20 degrees C on their own without glycerol. The dilution factor also has an effect. Storing the conjugate undiluted is recommended if possible; however, for HRP conjugates, if you wish to store at working concentrations (e.g. 1/10,000), this can be done using our LifeXtend HRP Conjugate Stabilizer/Diluent. Please note that the preservative sodium azide will inhibit HRP. We suggest that the optimal storage conditions for any conjugate are determined experimentally, using small aliquots of the conjugate.

What can I do if my antibody formulation does not fit the requirements?

If your antibody buffer is not compatible with our kits, we have developed an AbSelect™ purification kit range that allows you to quickly and simply purify your antibody and is fully compatible with the Lightning-Link® kits.The appropriate kit to use depends on your particular sample (species, buffer, contaminants, volume,...). We have designed a handy flow chart on the AbSelect™ webpage to help you select a kit, but feel free to contact us if you require further guidance. Please consult the kit protocols to see the antibody amount/volume suitable for each kit.If your antibody is already purified but its concentration is too low, you can concentrate it by using our Antibody Concentration and Clean Up Kit. This kit can also be used to remove low molecular weight contaminants such as azide, tris or glycine by carrying out a buffer exchange into the buffer supplied in the kit, which is fully compatible with Lightning-Link®.If your antibody contains BSA, you can now use our BSA removal kit to purify your antibody in a few simple steps. Please note this kit will also enable you to concentrate your antibody.NB: All the AbSelect kits will ONLY work with antibodies. They will not purify other molecules. The only exception is the concentration and clean up kit (861-0010), which will work with other molecules greater than 10kD.

What functional groups do I need on my protein?

Lightning-Link requires amine groups on the molecule to be labeled. Most proteins have lysine and/or alpha-amino groups. All antibodies will have multiple amine functions.

What is the difference between Lightning-Link® and Lightning-Link® Rapid?

The benefit of the Rapid kits is that the conjugates can be generated faster because the conjugation and quenching incubation times are shorter. The antibody/protein/peptide considerations are exactly the same, as is the high quality of the final conjugate. DyLight® dyes are only available in the Rapid format.

Lightning-Link (R) APC Antibody Labeling Kit

Name: Lightning-Link (R) APC Antibody Labeling Kit
Brand: Novus Biologicals
SKU: 705-0015

Novus Biologicals, part of Bio-Techne | Catalog # 705-0015

Submit a review

Citations (43)

Product Datasheet / COA / SDS / Protocols & Manuals

100% Guarantee

Product Summary
Product Specifications
Scientific Data
Kit Contents
Preparation & Storage
Background
Product Documents
Specific Notices

Key Product Details

Applications

Flow Cytometry

Kit Type

Antibody Labeling Kit

Conjugate

Allophycocyanin

Product Summary for Lightning-Link (R) APC Antibody Labeling Kit

Lightning-Link antibody labeling kits enable the direct labeling of antibodies, proteins, peptides or other biomolecules for use in R&D applications, drug discovery and the development of diagnostic kits (See protocol for further information).

Our APC antibody labeling kit enables the direct conjugation of APC to any biomolecule with an available amine group. The researcher simply pipettes the antibody or other biomolecule into the vial of Lightning-Link APC and incubates for 3 hours.

Features	Benefits
Quick and easy to use	Save time, no special knowledge required
No separation steps	100% recovery - no antibody/protein loss
Can be used in a wide range of applications	Flexible
Freeze dried	Ships at ambient temperature, long shelf-life
Fully scalable (10 ug to 1 g or more)	Easy transfer from R&D to manufacturing
Stringently QC tested	Consistent high quality, excellent batch-to-batch reproducibility
Large number of labels available	Experimental flexibility
Reliable: nearly 300 references	Successfully used in many fields of research

Allophycocyanin is a large 105kDa fluorescent phycobiliprotein. It absorbs at 652nm and emits at 666nm.

Learn more about Lightning-Link™ Conjugation Kits by reading FAQs

For more information please check out these useful links!
Antibody Labeling Guide
Antibody Conjugation Illustrated Assay

Product Specifications

Application Notes

By circumventing the desalting or dialysis steps that commonly interrupt traditional antibody conjugation procedures, LightningLink technology can be used to label both small (e.g. 10 ug) and large quantities of primary antibodies with ease. Batch-to-batch variation upon scale up is minimal as the process is so simple, and recoveries are always 100%.

Scientific Data Images for Lightning-Link (R) APC Antibody Labeling Kit

Flow Cytometry: Lightning-Link (R) APC Antibody Labeling Kit [705-0015]

Flow Cytometry: Lightning-Link APC Antibody Labeling Kit [705-0015] - Mouse anti-human CD8 was conjugated with APC using an Innova Biosciences Lightning-Link® kit. The conjugated antibody was then used to stain human peripheral blood lymphocytes, followed by analysis with flow cytometry. (Blue line - negative control; red line - positive staining).

Lightning-Link APC Antibody Labeling Kit [705-0015]

Kit Contents for Lightning-Link (R) APC Antibody Labeling Kit

1 or 3 glass vial(s) of Lightning-Link mix
1 vial of LL-Modifier reagent
1 vial of LL-Quencher reagent

Formulation, Preparation, and Storage

Concentration

Concentration is not relevant for this product. Please see the protocols for proper use of this product.

Shipping

The product is shipped with polar packs. Upon receipt, store it immediately at the temperature recommended below.

Storage

Store at -20C.

Background: Lightning-Link (R) APC

Easy APC labeling of your antibody with 30 seconds hands-on time. Allophycocyanin (APC) is a large 105kDa fluorescent phycobiliprotein commonly used in FACS analysis. It absorbs at 650nm and emits at 662nm, but can be excited by either a dye laser (595-605nm), or a HeNe laser (633nm). The Lightning-Link conjugation system represents a quantum leap forward in conjugation technology. It allows you to make antibody conjugates with minimal hands-on time - less than 30 seconds. Lightning-Link simplifies immunoassay techniques, such as western blotting, ELISA and immunohistochemistry, by eliminating secondary reagents and cutting the number of incubation and wash steps. Despite its simplicity, Lightning-Link is a very sophisticated conjugation system in which the antibody is directionally coupled to the label (and not to itself) in a controlled fashion, creating high quality conjugates. As the procedure is not interrupted by desalting steps, trial conjugates can be prepared with microgram quantities of protein and then scaled up with ease. Lightning-Link eliminates problems associated with scale up; hands-on time is essentially independent of process scale. Consistency from batch to batch is easy to achieve, and recoveries approach 100%.

Additional Lightning-Link (R) APC Products

Product Documents for Lightning-Link (R) APC Antibody Labeling Kit

Product Datasheets

Download Product Datasheets

Protocols & Manuals

Download Manual - Lightning-Link (R) APC Antibody Labeling Kit

COA

SDS

Download SDS

Product Specific Notices for Lightning-Link (R) APC Antibody Labeling Kit

This product is manufactured by Abcam and distributed by Novus Biologicals.

This product is for research use only and is not approved for use in humans or in clinical diagnosis. This product is guaranteed for 1 year from date of receipt and this statement overrides any mentioned guarantee period on the limitations section of this products datasheet. Please contact technical@novusbio.com with questions.

This product is for research use only and is not approved for use in humans or in clinical diagnosis. Kits are guaranteed for 6 months from date of receipt.

Citations
Reviews

Protocols
FAQs