Peptides peptide array experimental model

A reasonable objection to any in vitro model is whether it accurately mirrors the actual process. A strength of this model is that the peptides in the array, mounted on the microscope glass slide, are the very same as the antibody epitopes in the native proteins. Therefore, the types of formaldehyde-induced chemical reactions at or near the epitope are the same as would likely occur in a tissue sample. An additional strength of the model is that the experimental data using the peptide array completely account for the loss of immunoreactivity after formalin fixation and the recovery of immunoreactivity after antigen retrieval (Fig. 16.5). Nonetheless, our data do not prove that the model accurately represents formaldehyde reactions in tissue specimens. For example, our data do not exclude other causes of steric interference. 

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