FAQs

How should I reconstitute and store my antibody?
  • As a best practice, we recommend initially reconstituting freeze-dried antibodies with 100 microliters of distilled or deionized water, followed by diluting the solution with 900 microliters of PBS or Tris buffer for a total amount of 1 ml. The antibody will then be diluted 1/10. Make aliquots based on intended use and freeze. For example, make aliquots of 100 µL each in small eppendorf vials or cryovials and store in the freezer. Adding buffer and diluting the antibody prevents small aliquots of 10 µL, which can sometimes evaporate. In the future only thaw vials intended for use in order to reduce repeated freeze / thaw cycles. Thawing and re-freezing can potentially reduce the quality of the antibody. Dilution recommendations listed on data sheets apply to the reconstituted antibody, prior to dilutions with buffers.
  • The majority of our antibodies are lyophilized (freeze-dried) and may be stored at room temperature for shipping and short term storage up to one week. For longer term storage we recommend freezing as stated on the product’s data sheet. Click on an Antibody in our catalog to see its Data Sheet tab.
  • Liquid Antibodies 5-HT 1A (#24505), 5-HT 2A (#24288), 5-HT 2C (#24505), 5-HT 5A (#24429), 5-HT 7 (#24430), GFAP (#22522), NK3R (#20061), NPY Y1 (#24506), and S100 (#22520) must be shipped on ice and kept at a cold temperature (4 – 8 deg Celsius) as stated on their Data Sheets. Click on an Antibody in our catalog to see Data Sheets.
How do I contact scientific support?
  • You may find answers to your question in our ImmunoStar Instruction Manual or on the product Data Sheet. Click on your Antibody or Peptide Control in our catalog to find its Data Sheet tab.
  • Request help via our Technical Support form
  • Send technical questions to our Scientific Staff, email us at [email protected], or call ImmunoStar Support at 715-386-8407 or toll-free 866-386-3500 (US & Canada).
What is your antibody concentrations?
  • Most of ImmunoStar Antibodies are “whole serum” and therefore not affinity purified. Measuring the concentration is meaningless for whole serum antibodies since they contain other proteins. Concentrations for our affinity purified antibodies are shown on the bottom of the data sheet.
Do you offer trial sizes?
  • We do not offer trial or sample sizes for testing. 
Do you offer discounts?
  • Visit our promotional page to find valuable discounts and programs.
Where do I find your data/specification sheets?
  • Our Data Sheets contain the most up-to-date product information. Click on an Antibody or Peptide Control in our catalog to find its Data Sheet tab.
Where is your instruction manual?
  • Our ImmunoStar Instruction Manual includes detailed protocol suggestions that apply to all of our antibodies.
Do you ship with ice?
  • The majority of our antibodies are lyophilized (freeze dried) and may be stored at room temperature for shipping and short term storage (up to one week). For longer term storage we recommend freezing as stated on the product’s specification sheet. Click on an Antibody in our catalog to see its Data Sheet tab.
  • Our liquid antibodies are shipped on ice and must be kept at a cool temperature as stated on their specification sheets. Our liquid antibodies are: 5-HT 1A (#24505), 5-HT 2A (#24288), 5-HT 2C (#24505), 5-HT 5A (#24429), 5-HT 7 (#24430), GFAP (#22522), and NK3R (#20061). Click on an Antibody in our catalog to see its Data Sheet tab.
What is the shelf life of my antibody?
  • All of our Antibodies and Peptide Controls have an expiration date listed on its label. Most of our antibodies are freeze-dried; therefore these products are extremely stable with a shelf-life of several years.
How should I aliquot my antibody? / Are aliquots of 10 µL antibody okay to freeze?
  • The best practice is to dilute the antibody before you make the aliquots you plan to store in the freezer. First, reconstitute the vial with 100 µL of distilled or deionized water if you purchased a freeze-dried antibody. Second, we recommend adding 900 µL of PBS or Tris buffer to the vial to achieve a 1/10 ratio. Third, make aliquots for the remaining amount not used for current testing and intended to freeze. We suggest aliquotting 10 vials with 100 µL each into small eppendorf or cryovials and store the vials in the freezer. This allows customers to pull out aliquots to thaw as needed, thereby avoiding repeated freeze-thaw cycles. We do not recommend aliquots of less than 20 µL because tiny aliquots tend to evaporate in the freezer. If you do have a very small aliquot, use the entire amount. For example don’t attempt to pipette 10 µL back out; instead rinse the tube out using a pipette and dilution buffer to be sure you get all of the antibody. Note that the recommended dilutions listed on data sheets are for vials after reconstitution (before dilution for storage).
What is the difference between ImmunoStar, DiaSorin, INCSTAR and Immunonuclear?
  • In 2001 ImmunoStar purchased the DiaSorin product line. Before that DiaSorin purchased this product line from INCSTAR. INCSTAR was renamed from Immunonuclear in the 1970s. Therefore many references to Immunonuclear, INSTAR, or DiaSorin antibodies are referring to the same antibodies sold by ImmunoStar.
Do I need to pay sales tax?
  • ImmunoStar does not collect U.S. sales tax because our antibodies and proteins are for research use only. All products are nontaxable when used for the sole purpose of research and development in a research facility.
Do different lot numbers make a difference?
  • We pride ourselves on lot-to-lot consistency to ensure that results will not vary from test to test. You can be assured of consistent results even if your lot numbers are different.
What publications cite this antibody?
  • Our Publications database of thousands of ImmunoStar citations can be searched by product number, antibody name, species reactivity, application method, and PubMed ID#.
Is this antibody tested in other species or with other applications?
  • Tested species and applications are listed on an Antibody’s Data Sheet. Click on an Antibody in our catalog to see its Data Sheet tab.
  • You can search by species and application in our Publications database of thousands of ImmunoStar citations.
Can I use Western Blot with this antibody?
  • We perform Western Blot in our labs to characterize many of our antibodies after production. Most of our antibodies can be used in Western Blots. Some of our receptor antibodies require specific steps for this application, so refer to the Western Blot information included on the Antibody Data Sheets. If there is no Western Blot information on our Data Sheet, you can search our Publications database to see if other researchers have used the Western Blot method.