High-performance Epitope Tag Antibodies from AbD Serotec

The use of epitope tags in recombinant DNA techniques allows the detection of proteins where specific antibodies are not available. AbD Serotec’s epitope tag antibodies are manufactured to ISO 9001 standards and can identify tagged proteins in many different applications such as flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry, immunoprecipitation and Western blotting.

An epitope tag is a small peptide sequence, typically 3 – 14 amino acids (a.a.) in length. A protein expression vector encoding an epitope tag has a gene of interest cloned into it. Protein synthesis expresses the protein target containing the epitope tag. Specific tag antibodies enable the tagged protein to be detected. This eliminates the need to generate a new antibody for every protein of interest saving a researcher time, resources and money.

Epitope tagging is widely used:

to detect, purify and characterize the structural organisation of proteins
for tracking a tagged protein in vivo
for determining protein–protein interactions
for functional assays
to distinguish between two proteins with similar antigenic sites
to label different parts of a single protein employing different epitope tags


V5 or PK-Tag (clone SV5-Pk1)
V5 tags can be incorporated into expression vectors of bacteria, fungi/yeast, insect or mammalian origin. Its presence does not interfere with the transport and selection of recombinant proteins in bacteria or mammalian cells. Both transmembrane and secreted proteins have been tagged with V5. V5 is usually a 14 a.a. tag; although a smaller 9 a.a. epitope tag has also been successfully used. Additionally, the 9 a.a. tag may be used as a peptide to inhibit the binding of the antibody to its native protein.

His or His-6 Tag (clone AD1.1.10)
His-6 is widely used for purifying proteins expressed in bacteria, yeast, insect and mammalian systems. In Western blotting of bacterial extracts, the antibody has been shown not to cross-react with any endogenous products.

c-myc Tag (clone 9E10 & JAC6)
This is a popular expression vector tag (10 a.a. long) often used by researchers using two color immunofluorescence applications.

GFP (Green Fluorescent Protein)
GFP is a naturally occurring 27 kDa protein derived from the jellyfish Aequorea victoria that fluoresces green when exposed to blue light. It is particularly useful in fluorescence microscopy techniques. Our anti-GFP polyclonal antibody detects wild type, recombinant and enhanced forms of GFP and is reactive in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic expression systems.

S-Tag (clone SBSTAGb)
The S-Tag is a 15 a.a. truncated form of the S-peptide, used in variety of protein expression applications in mammalian cells. The antibody is suitable for detection of S-Tag by flow cytometry and ELISA.

Strep-Tag (clone Strep-MAB and Strep-Tag II)
Strep-Tags are short 8 amino acid sequences, especially useful for tagging membrane proteins, metalloproteins and sensitive protein complexes with multiple subunits. Clone Strep-MAB (MCA2488) is particularly suited to the capture of Strep-Tag II-containing proteins in assays such as ELISA or BiaCore. Clone Strep-Tag II (MCA2489/MCA2489P) recognizes both N- and C-terminals, as well as internal Strep-Tag II, and is ideal for Western blot applications.

Glutathione S-transferase Tag (clone vpg66)
Glutathione S-transferase (GST) fusion vectors are often chosen for mammalian protein expression studies because they are inducible, and give high-level intracellular expression of genes or gene fragments.

Maltose Binding Protein Tag (clone R29)
This is often used in protein expression studies because it creates a stable fusion product. It allows for easy purification from bacterial extracts under mild conditions.

AbD Serotec has a wide range of competitively priced purified epitope Tag specific antibodies (see Table). For direct detection techniques, use of a fluorochrome or enzyme-labeled Tag antibody e.g. Biotin, is recommended. Bulk quantities are available and we also offer custom labeling with the conjugate of your choice e.g. Alexa Fluor®. Please contact us for further information and a quote for these services.