In immunology experiments, people use nitrophenyl (hapten) conjugated to a carrier protein and report antibody affinities based on their ability to bind to NPx, where 'x' is an integer.
Could someone explain what the numbers signify, how they are arrived at, and their relation to antibody affinity strengths?
Lauren E Higdon
The number after NP refers to the conjugation ratio of NP to carrier protein. So NP3-BSA has 3 NP molecules conjugated to 1 BSA, and NP3-BSA has a proportionately lower amount of NP than NP33-BSA. Low affinity antibodies can bind to NP at a high conjugation ratio (e.g. 33) but not a low conjugation ratio (e.g. 3), whereas high affinity antibodies can bind to either.
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