How do I select an isotype control for my experiments?
When purchasing a isotype or negative control for your experiment, in addition to the host species and isotype of your test antibody, you will also need to consider the species in which you are working. An isotype control may be raised against an antigen that is not naturally occurring e.g. DNP but this is not always the case. Please be aware that an isotype control advertised as being suitable for use on human cells may not be suitable for an experiment where the target cells are rat. Where applicable, the isotype control should also be conjugated to an identical fluorochrome as your test antibody e.g. whilst spectrally similar, an APC-conjugated test antibody should not be paired with an Alexa Fluor 647®-conjugated isotype control. Recommended isotype controls can usually be found at the bottom of AbD Serotec product datasheets. If this information is absent, or if your test antibody was not purchased from AbD Serotec, then please contact Technical Support for further advice.
