Thanks to all who replied to my message about an antibody shipment that was lost in shipping, finally arrived after 2 weeks and the manufacturer tech services telling me it would be just fine and to keep it. In the end I refused shipment and the manufacturer sent another the next day. Your advice was what I expected to hear with comments like, "You are being shafted. I would not use it, particularly for patient work...Absolutley not! " "Personally I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole" "Don't accept the old antibody! Who knows how hot it got sitting around somewhere for 14 days." 'No, I would insist that the company send a new one" "As we are a clinical lab we parallel test all reagents and find some bad batches that are shipped in a timely manner. I never trust anything I don't test." This is basically how I felt about the incident. But some other interesting comments also surfaced, "In my experience, room temp is not a problem unless there is the possibility of "things" growing in it. However, excessive heat can denature the protein or cause aggregates. I would try it. " " I would use it I always got my BD MAB's at room temp. Antibodies seem to be pretty robust. I figure they are pretty stable when they are grown in culture at 37 degrees C. Or even in one's own body." "...We normally ship at ambient temperature with no problems. We have done shipping tests where we shipped to Europe and back at ambient temperature and the antibody was still ok. PE. APC and PE-Cy5 are probably a little more sensitive." These reponses piqued my interest. I am always paranoid about reagent deterioration so I get my cells ready, add the antibody and return it to the cold cabinet as quickly as possible. At times this poses an inconvenience and I would like to be able to allow an Ab to reach room temp without fear of loss of activity. Some of the reponses to this inquiry help me relax a bit. Thanks again for your input Roger A. Burger , Ph.D. Research Assistant Professor, Immunology Utah State University Logan, UT 84322-6895 Voice: 435-797-2042 FAX: 435-797-4054 E-mail: Roger@cpd2.usu.edu
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