Why do we use affinity tags for protein production?

Proteos is committed to providing a quality foundation for drug discovery research.  Part of that commitment includes producing high-quality recombinant proteins through our protein expression and purification services.  We have experience purifying a wide variety of recombinant proteins, including antibodies, enzymes, kinases, hormones, etc.

While we have a great deal of experience purifying untagged proteins, it is generally preferable to employ an affinity tag to facilitate purification and detection of the protein of interest.  An affinity tag is a peptide or small protein that is attached to a recombinant protein through genetic manipulation.  These tags, such as 6xHis and FLAG, are commonly used for protein purification through affinity chromatography, which takes advantage of a specific binding interaction between a tag and an immobilized ligand.  Our purification services can be customized to take advantage of your specific recombinant protein target and affinity tag selection.

Affinity tags are also utilized for detection of recombinant proteins in immunoassays because there is widespread availability of antibodies for the tags.  Affinity tags allow easy analysis of protein expression and purification at specific milestones during protein production.  The data can be used to determine whether projects are running as planned and allow us to react quickly and proactively change directions if needed.

Affinity tags are invaluable when studying proteins for which there is a lack of biochemical information and reagents available.  Selecting the right affinity tag can lead to successful protein production outcomes.  Other considerations include affinity tag placement and whether the tag will need to be removed for your application.

Proteos has a team of tremendously skilled scientists that are ready to answer your questions regarding affinity tags.  Utilizing historical data and our expertise, we will work with you to produce a customized quotation that focuses on the end-product from square one.

Contact Proteos today to start the conversation.