Improvement of antisera raised against complex antigen mixtures by the use of heterologous sources of antigen for immunization.

Polyspecific antisera against antigen mixtures are important tools for many experimental purposes. However, following immunization with extracts containing a great number of different proteins, many antigens remain non-immunogenic. Therefore, the improvement of the antibody spectrum of antisera is an essential goal in maximising the power and applicability of many serological analyses. In the present report we demonstrate that the additional use of heterologous (i.e., antigenically related, but not identical) antigen mixtures for immunization increases the variety of antibodies in polyspecific antisera as well as the antibody titer against weak immunogens.