Antibodies to Visual Pigment Proteins, Transcription Factor Sox17, and Multimerized Epitope Tags

Unmet Need:
Canonical Wnt signaling is one of the major pathways involved in embryonic development and tissue regeneration. Recent studies suggest that canonical Wnt signaling is vital for brain angiogenesis and the acquisition of barrier properties by the microvasculature. There is a need in the field for the development of reagents that allow for the interrogation of the Wnt pathway, which can lead to the development of specific and effective drugs that could modulate processes involved in tissue homeostasis.

Technology Overview:
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have developed polyclonal antibodies against Sox17 and Zic3, two transcription factors that interplay with canonical Wnt signaling in vascular development. The inventors have demonstrated via immunoblotting that the Sox17 rabbit antibody recognizes Sox17, but not the closely related Sox7 or Sox18. The inventors have also shown that the polyclonal Zic3 antibody is specific enough to recognize Zic3 preferentially over Zic1, Zic2, and Zic4.

Stage of Development:
The inventors have developed and validated the antibodies using tissue immunoblotting and immunostaining.

Publication:
Cell 2012
 

Category(s):