NeuroMab Recombinant Chicken–Mouse Chimeric Antibodies
Chicken antibodies provide an exceptional alternative species for multiplex immunolabeling. Because birds are evolutionarily distant from mammals, chickens mount a strong immune response to mammalian proteins, producing highly specific and reliable antibodies.
Recombinant chicken chimeric antibodies combine the validated mouse variable regions from NeuroMab monoclonal clones with chicken IgY constant regions. This format delivers the trusted specificity of NeuroMab with the unique biological advantages of IgY.
Antibodies Incorporated have successfully converted 27 NeuroMab monoclonal antibody clones into recombinant chicken IgY format. These are available unconjugated, carrier‑free, or pre‑conjugated to a range of fluorophores, supporting flexible experimental design.
What are Chicken–Mouse Chimeric Antibodies?
The term "Chimeric" refers to something that is made up of parts from two different sources. Chimeric antibodies are genetically engineered recombinant antibodies combining sequences from antibodies of different host species to produce molecules with unique properties.
NeuroMab's recombinant chimeric chicken antibodies link the antigen-binding variable region from mouse monoclonal antibodies to the constant region of the chicken IgY antibody molecule. This allows use of highly cited, rigorously-validated antibodies with standard anti-chicken secondary antibodies to facilitate multiplexing.
Recombinant chimeric antibodies offer advantages beyond multiplexing, including improved data reproducibility and avoiding cross-reactivity issues seen when using mouse antibodies on mouse tissues or when mammalian antibodies interact with immune components.
Additionally, chimeric chicken antibodies are produced in cultured cells under serum and protein-free conditions, making their production entirely animal-free.
Chimeric Antibodies: Production and Therapeutics
Chimeric antibodies are created using recombinant DNA technologies to generate expression plasmids encoding desired regions of each cloned parental antibody.
Initial work focused on therapeutic antibodies with more human properties. The first report combined mouse antigen-binding domains with human constant region domains (Morrison et al., 1984).
While many marketed therapeutic antibodies are now more fully humanized, several mouse-human chimeras have been approved for therapeutic use, validating chimeric antibody technology.
Chimeric antibody technology also enables creation of research-use antibodies with unique and favourable properties.
Chimeric Chicken Antibodies as Research Tools
Mammalian-chicken chimeric antibodies as commercially available research tools are a recent development following non-chimeric recombinant antibodies.
Given the evolutionary distance between mammalian and avian immunoglobulins, it was questioned whether combining mouse variable regions with chicken constant regions affects antigen-binding properties. Choi et al. (2019) demonstrated that changes in antigen binding affinities were small and similar for mouse-chicken and mouse-human chimeras, showing interchangeability of avian and mammalian constant regions.
The chicken IgY Fc region has unique and advantageous characteristics
- Secondary antibodies raised against mammalian IgG do not cross-react with chicken IgY.
- Unlike mammalian IgG Fc, chicken IgY Fc does not bind to mammalian Fc receptors, interact with rheumatoid factors, or activate the mammalian complement system.
These differences offer practical advantages such as ease of using mouse-derived antigen-binding sequences on mouse tissues, easier multiplexing, and reduced background.
Advantages of NeuroMab Chimeric Chicken Antibodies
NeuroMab's chimeric chicken antibodies offer all advantages of recombinant antibodies with more flexibility for multiplex imaging and lower background:
- Reproducibility: Recombinant production ensures consistent, inexhaustible antibody batches for reproducible data.
- Animal-friendly: Produced in vitro using serum-free and protein-free media, avoiding animal use.
- Known binding properties: Variable regions from validated mouse monoclonal antibodies ensure reliable antigen binding.
- Reduced background/enhanced performance: Chicken IgY Fc does not bind mammalian Fc receptors, rheumatoid factors, or activate complement, reducing background and false positives.
- Facilitates staining of mouse tissues: Avoids “mouse-on-mouse” background by using anti-chicken secondary antibodies that do not bind endogenous mouse IgG.
- Better multiplexing: Chicken antibodies expand multiplex panels beyond mouse and rabbit antibodies, enabling more data with less background.
Available Marker Categories
Cell Marker Antibodies | |||
GFAP | CALB1/calbindin Calretinin | Parvalbumin | TMEM119 |
Synaptic Marker Recombinant Antibodies | ||||||
PSD-95 | VGlut1 | VGlut2 | Homer1 | VGAT | Bassoon | GAD65/6 |
Applications That Benefit Most
- Multiplex Fluorescent Imaging - Chicken IgY antibodies do not cross-react with anti-mouse secondary antibodies, simplifying complex multiplex panels.
- Mouse Tissue Staining - Ideal for mouse brain and peripheral tissues, eliminating background commonly seen with mammalian antibodies.
- Human Organoid Research - These antibodies reliably stain mature human organoids, supporting developmental studies, disease modelling, and high-content imaging.
Considerations for Immunoprecipitation (IP)
Chicken IgY Fc does not bind Protein A or Protein G, commonly used in IP with mammalian IgG antibodies. This is overcome by using PrecipHen® Immunoprecipitation Reagent, goat anti-chicken IgY antibodies covalently attached to agarose beads, designed for chicken antibody IP, ChIP, and protein purification.
Why This Matters
By converting NeuroMab antibodies into recombinant chicken IgY, researchers gain:
- Expanded assay design options
- Enhanced multiplexing capability
- Improved reproducibility
- Compatibility with both mouse tissue and advanced human organoid systems
These antibodies serve as versatile, high-performance tools for basic and preclinical neuroscience, enabling clearer and more reliable data from increasingly complex experimental models.
