Lab Expectations

The activity of genes and their regulatory elements is, in part, governed by their cell type-specific chromatin organization. Nucleosomes, the building blocks of chromatin, are wrapped around a core of histone proteins that are subject to many post-translational modifications that can either promote or silence gene expression.

Antibodies targeted to histone modifications may bind non-specifically to similar, but off-target histone modifications. Conversely, their specific binding can be inhibited by steric hindrance from modifications on neighboring residues. Assays like ELISA, western blot, ChIP, and IF are commonly used to demonstrate antibody specificity and sensitivity, but they cannot clearly predict how an antibody will interact with nearby epitopes. As a result, an alternative approach is needed when trying to validate an antibody to a histone modification target. Continue reading to see how we do it.