Immunological Reagents

Beacon cBSA is prepared from a native BSA treated with ethylenediamine which substitutes negatively-charged carboxyl groups with positively-charged aminoethyl-amide groups. In comparison with the native BSA, the cationization of BSA alters its conformation as well as its charge. Haptens can be coupled to cBSA by using a wide range of crosslinking agents and various conjugation methods. This cBSA stimulates a higher immunogenic response compared to the native BSA.

Beacon Crustacean Hemocyanin (BCH) is a purified preparation of Crustacean hemocyanin which provides high immunogenicity to conjugated haptens (e.g., small molecular compounds, peptides, and proteins). Immunization with these hapten-BCH conjugates can then elicit specific antibodies against the analytical compound. This Crustacean Hemocyanin subunit (75 kDa) is approximately 1/5 the size of the keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) subunit; hence, it has a significant advantage over KLH in solubility. The Crustacean Hemocyanin subunit can assemble into two hexamers (12 subunits), with an approximate MW of 900 kDa. Since the protein is derived from crustaceans, it is phylogenetically distant from mammalian species and less likely to produce antibodies that will cross-react with other compounds in immunoassays. Antibodies against this carrier showed less than 1% cross reactivity with KLH.