Anti-Follistatin (R163) Antibody

This unconjugated rabbit polyclonal primary antibody from Antibodies.com recognizes follistatin, a secreted glycoprotein best studied for its capacity to bind and neutralize activin A and several bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), including myostatin. Because myostatin is a negative regulator of skeletal muscle mass, follistatin reagents are commonly used in muscle hypertrophy, satellite cell, and exercise-physiology research, while the activin-inhibiting activity of follistatin has made it a frequent marker in reproductive and gonadal signaling studies.

The reagent is supplied at 1 mg/ml in phosphate buffered saline (PBS) containing 0.05% sodium azide, with the formulation adjusted to approximately pH 7.2. Each vial contains 50 µl. It has been validated in Western blot (WB) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) on human, mouse, and rat samples, covering the standard mammalian research models used in most myogenesis and developmental studies. The unconjugated format leaves fluorophore or enzyme coupling to the end user.

Short-term storage at 4 °C is acceptable; for longer term, the antibody should be aliquoted and stored at -20 °C or below to limit freeze-thaw degradation of the IgG fraction. As a polyclonal reagent, the antibody recognizes multiple epitopes on follistatin, generally producing a stronger Western blot signal at the cost of somewhat higher IHC background that should be controlled with appropriate blocking and secondary-only controls.