How much similarity in amino acid is needed for an antibody?

[bronze10000]

Hello,

I am trying to determine if an antibody of STAT92E from Drosophila will recognize the homolog in Aedes aegypti. Generally, how much amino acid similarity is required for an antibody to detect? Thanks.

[mdfenko]

it depends on the epitope to which the antibody is made.

a monoclonal to a conserved epitope should react cross-species.

a polyclonal made against the whole molecule would stand the best chance of blind cross-species interaction.

sometimes the spec sheet will tell some of the other species with which the antibody will interact.