Prevention of immunological non-specificity

Another approach to exclude immunological reactions of the primary antiserum with epitopes not found on the specific antigen is the labeling of pure antigen. Subsequent to the reaction of the primary antiserum, pure antigen is bound only to the specific antibodies complexed to the antigen in the tissue preparation. 

Another potential cause of immunological non-specificity involves alio- or auto-antibodies. Anti-IgG antibodies cannot discriminate between endogenous Ig and the primary antibodies from the same species or, frequently, from other species. This problem may also be overcome by the use of haptenated or biotinylated primary antibodies. 

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