Why use IgY in immunological assays?
IgY is a highly specific polyclonal antibody suitable for a range of immunoassays and applications. Using chicken antibodies in immunological assays may improve selectivity, sensitivity and reliability of your diagnostic product. This is largely attributed to the inherent low degree of interferences and good stability of IgY.
Chickens are domesticated birds that genetically differ significantly from humans and other mammals. Hence, chickens may raise a stronger immune response against human antigens than for instance rabbits, mice or goats. Chickens often recognize a larger part of the antigen as foreign and may be used to obtain antibodies against human antigens in cases where antibody production in mammals has failed
There is no need to bleed or sacrifice animals
NABAS production procedures are far more effective than existing procedures in mammals. The consequence is significantly lower cost for high volume output.
Reduced cross-reactivity compared with IgG antibodies (against mammalian biomarkers).
IgY reduces background by not binding to rheumatoid factors. Rheumatoid factors of mammalian sera may react with the Fc domain of IgG, causing false positive results. In contrast to IgG, IgY does not bind to rheumatoid factor.
IgY does not activate the mammalian complement system. Complement components in a patient's serum are often measured using mammalian antibodies (IgG). The immune complex formed may in turn activate the complement system and bind to complement components, leading to false results. This can be avoided by using chicken antibodies against the anti-complement components.
IgY does not bind to mammalian Fc receptors. Both complement activation and Fc-receptor interactions are known to cause platelet activation, which is commonly seen in assays using mammalian IgG antibodies. This is not the case with chicken antibodies, making IgY suitable for studies of platelet activation by flow cytometry.
In contrast to IgG, Staphylococcal protein A and Streptococcal protein G do not bind to the Fc domain of IgY. Consequently, chicken antibodies against protein A or protein G will not have unspecific binding to these proteins.