title: GABARAPL1 antibodies: target one protein, get one free!
abstract: Atg8 is a yeast protein involved in the autophagic process and in particular in the elongation of autophagosomes. In mammals, several orthologs have been identified and are classed into two subfamilies: the LC3 subfamily and the GABARAP subfamily, referred to simply as the LC3 or GABARAP families. GABARAPL1 (GABARAP-like protein 1), one of the proteins belonging to the GABARAP (GABA(A) receptor-associated protein) family, is highly expressed in the central nervous system and implicated in processes such as receptor and vesicle transport as well as autophagy. The proteins that make up the GABARAP family demonstrate conservation of their amino acid sequences and protein structures. In humans, GABARAPL1 shares 86% identity with GABARAP and 61% with GABARAPL2 (GATE-16). The identification of the individual proteins is thus very limited when working in vivo due to a lack of unique peptide sequences from which specific antibodies can be developed. Actually, and to our knowledge, there are no available antibodies on the market that are entirely specific to GABARAPL1 and the same may be true of the anti-GABARAP antibodies. In this study, we sought to examine the specificity of three antibodies targeted against different peptide sequences within GABARAPL1: CHEM-CENT (an antibody raised against a short peptide sequence within the center of the protein), PTG-NTER (an antibody raised against the N-terminus of the protein) and PTG-FL (an antibody raised against the full-length protein). The results described in this article demonstrate the importance of testing antibody specificity under the conditions for which it will be used experimentally, a caution that should be taken when studying the expression of the GABARAP family proteins.
authors.affiliation: Université de Franche-Comté, Laboratoire de Biochimie, EA3922, Estrogènes, Expression Génique et Pathologies du Système Nerveux Central, IFR133, U.F.R. Sciences et Techniques, Besançon, France.
authors.forename: Jaclyn Nicole
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Le Grand
authors.forename: Fatima Zahra
authors.initials: FZ
authors.lastname: Chakrama
authors.forename: Stéphanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Seguin-Py
authors.forename: Annick
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fraichard
authors.forename: Régis
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Delage-Mourroux
authors.forename: Michèle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jouvenot
authors.forename: Pierre-Yves
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Risold
authors.forename: Michaël
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boyer-Guittaut
mesh_terms: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies / Q000276:immunology*; D000918:Antibody Specificity / Q000276:immunology; D057809:HEK293 Cells; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D021381:Protein Transport; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D000906:Antibodies; D010455:Peptides