Jun 11, 2010

Online Collaboration in Proteomic Research



Antigen-Antibody reactions are the basis of many physiochemical experiments. The primary step in producing antibodies is identifying a potential epitope. Epitopes are distinctive markers that protrude from the surface of an antigen, and that alert the immune system to the antigen's presence. Finding suitable epitopes is a tough task and many months may be wasted searching for the elusive target .Researchers at Germany’s Heidelberg University have now set up an open access web portal to aid proteomic research through the exploration of epitopes. This portal lets you conduct a 'virtual experiment' to find out how many antibodies you need and against which targets.



EpiC (The Epitope Choice Resource) aims to provide physio chemical predictions of antigenicity together with functional annotation in order to provide the user with adequate information in order to make a decision about the best location of an epitope for an antibody based experiment. The project connects to a wide range of servers throughout Europe and was funded by the EU Framework 6 networking action ProteomeBinders.

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