Have anyone worked with expired antibodies, of either the primary antibody or the conjugated secondary antibody (with HRP or fluorescein)? I know I could still work on few other expired chemicals in the lab (such as the nutrient agar base, ready-made CLED agar, malachite green, precast SDSPAGE gels), but I am not sure about the use of antibodies. What's your personal experience and advice on this?
Hi Nurul,
I've been using an expired anti-goat antibody and it has been working fine. Also this study would suggest that antibodies last for a long time if stored properly http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/his.12225/abstract
Hi Nurul,
I've been using an expired anti-goat antibody and it has been working fine. Also this study would suggest that antibodies last for a long time if stored properly http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/his.12225/abstract
In general antibodes are much more stable than indicated by the companies. But it really depends on the particular antibody and on the storage. We have been using monoclonals for more than 10 years that were stored at 4°C. In any case you have to do the experiment (include a good positive control) to know, there is no guarantee in either way.
IgGs are VERY stable. As long as aliquoting does not contaminating the prep, it can be used for years. In some cases we used preps that were kept at room temp for years (always use proper controls to detect performance problems...)
Antibodies are extremely stable. I are using avian antibodies that I produced 1983 and have been stored at +4C since then. I also recently used a rabbit anti-CRP antibody that has been frozen. The friend I gave it to was born after the expiry date (1975)
The sensitive part is the enzymes.
As the other responses have indicated the stability of antibodies is entirely dependent upon the conditions under which they have been stored. I have retained antibodies in serum, frozen, for 20 years and they still had the same functionality, however these were prepared by myself and stored in my laboratory. Commercially I have produced antibodies and tested them following storage for up to 2 years. No testing was conducted beyond this time point as other components used in the same test kits had a shelf-life of 2 years and began to lose activity at this point.
Dear Nurul,
expiry date just means that the manufacturer has determined minimum stability of the product, usually applying model systems which suggest accelerated ageing by storage at defined increased temperatures. Sometimes, the manufacturer even warrants the quality of the product when used before the expiry date.
After that date, you are assuming all liabilities for the product if you are using it in a test that produces results which are used for diagnostics procedures etc., so you have to validate it yourself.
When you use a product in research, you will include appropriate positive and negative controls in your experiments anyway to validate your results.
So, don't care too much and go ahead! It's like with expired Yoghurt: If it doesn't grow molds, enjoy it!
Can you determine the level of IgG antibody against a certain infectious agent (e.g. virus, bacterium, fungus) after theserum sample has been stored frozen for over 20 years? I would appreciate it if there is a reference out there that shows just that. Thanks!
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