Complete In Vivo Antibody Dosing Guide: Optimal Doses for Mouse Models

This guide offers essential guidance on selecting the ideal antibody doses for mouse model studies. It helps researchers optimize dosing strategies to improve the efficacy and outcomes of in vivo experiments.


Find the Exact Antibody Dose You Need for Your Research

This comprehensive resource provides researchers with precise dosing information for commonly used antibody clones in mouse models. Whether you're conducting cancer immunotherapy studies with checkpoint inhibitors, depleting specific immune cell populations, or activating immune responses, this guide covers standard doses, administration routes, and experimental applications based on peer-reviewed literature.

Checkpoint Blockade Antibodies

How Much RMP1-14 (Anti-PD-1) To Use In Vivo

Target: PD-1 (CD279)


Species: Mouse


Standard Dose Range: 200-500 μg per mouse
 Recommended Route: Intraperitoneal injection


Optimal Dosing Schedule: Every 3-4 days


Applications: Cancer immunotherapy studies (PD-1 checkpoint blockade); reinvigorating exhausted T cells in chronic infection models


Published Examples: Often used at 200 μg per dose in syngeneic tumor models including MC38 and B16 melanoma

How Much 10F.9G2 (Anti-PD-L1) To Use In Vivo

Target: PD-L1 (B7-H1, CD274)


Species: Mouse


Standard Dose Range: 100-250 μg per mouse

Recommended Route: Intraperitoneal injection


Optimal Dosing Schedule: 2-3 times per week


Applications: Cancer immunotherapy studies (PD-L1 blockade); also used in infection models to enhance T-cell responses by blocking PD-1/PD-L1 interaction

How Much 29F.1A12 (Anti-PD-1) To Use In Vivo

Target: PD-1 (CD279)


Species: Mouse
 

Standard Dose Range: 100-200 μg per mouse (~5 mg/kg)


Recommended Route: Intraperitoneal injection


Optimal Dosing Schedule: Given 3 times at 3-day intervals


Applications: Cancer immunotherapy (PD-1 blockade); used in tumor models to stimulate anti-tumor T-cell activity, often in combination with other treatments

How Much 9H10 (Anti-CTLA-4) To Use In Vivo

Target: CTLA-4 (CD152)


Species: Mouse


Standard Dose Range: 100-200 μg per mouse

Recommended Route: Intraperitoneal injection


Optimal Dosing Schedule: Every ~3 days


Applications: Cancer immunotherapy (CTLA-4 blockade in tumor models to enhance T-cell activation; often combined with anti-PD-1/PD-L1 therapy; mimics ipilimumab's effect)

How Much 9D9 (Anti-CTLA-4) To Use In Vivo

Target: CTLA-4 (CD152)


Species: Mouse
 

Standard Dose Range: 100-250 μg per mouse


Recommended Route: Intraperitoneal injection (also tested intratumoral)
 

Optimal Dosing Schedule: Every 3 days
 

Applications: Cancer immunotherapy (CTLA-4 blockade); notably, clone 9D9 can deplete intratumoral Tregs due to its mouse IgG2b Fc, enhancing anti-tumor immunity

Immune Cell Depleting Antibodies

How Much GK1.5 (Anti-CD4) To Use In Vivo

Target: CD4 (T helper cell marker)

Species: Mouse

Standard Dose Range: 200-250 μg per mouse

Recommended Route: Intraperitoneal injection

Optimal Dosing Schedule: 2-3 times per week

Applications: CD4⁺ T cell depletion studies - used to test CD4 T cell requirement in autoimmune disease models, infection immunity, tumor rejection, and transplant tolerance

How Much 2.43 (Anti-CD8) To Use In Vivo

Target: CD8α (Cytotoxic T cell marker)

Species: Mouse

Standard Dose Range: 250 μg per mouse

Recommended Route: Intraperitoneal injection

Optimal Dosing Schedule: 2-3 times per week

Applications: CD8⁺ T cell depletion - eliminates cytotoxic T lymphocytes to assess their role in tumor immunity, viral clearance, graft rejection, etc. Often used alongside GK1.5 to deplete all T cell subsets

How Much RB6-8C5 (Anti-Gr-1) To Use In Vivo

Target: Gr-1 (Ly6G/Ly6C on neutrophils)

Species: Mouse

Standard Dose Range: 200-250 μg per mouse

Recommended Route: Intraperitoneal injection

Optimal Dosing Schedule: Every 2-3 days for sustained neutrophil depletion

Applications: Neutrophil/granulocyte depletion - used to study neutrophils' role in inflammation, infection, and cancer models

How Much 1A8 (Anti-Ly6G) To Use In Vivo

Target: Ly6G (neutrophil-specific marker)

Species: Mouse

Standard Dose Range: 100-250 μg per mouse

Recommended Route: Intraperitoneal injection

Optimal Dosing Schedule: 3 times per week or every 3 days

Applications: Neutrophil-specific depletion - more selective than RB6-8C5; used in tumor immunotherapy studies, infection models, and inflammation assays

How Much PK136 (Anti-NK1.1) To Use In Vivo

Target: NK1.1 (NK cell marker, also known as NKR-P1C/CD161)

Species: Mouse (NK1.1 is present in C57BL/6 and related strains)

Standard Dose Range: 200-300 μg per mouse

Recommended Route: Intraperitoneal injection

Optimal Dosing Schedule: 1-3 times per week as needed

Applications: NK cell depletion - eliminates natural killer cells to assess their function in tumor metastasis control, viral infections, and immune regulation

Immune Activating Antibodies

How Much 145-2C11 (Anti-CD3ε) To Use In Vivo

Target: CD3ε (T-cell receptor complex)

Species: Mouse

Standard Dose Range: 5-50 μg per mouse

Recommended Route: Intravenous injection (tail vein)

Optimal Dosing Schedule: 5 μg/day for 5 days or single 10 μg dose

Applications: Polyclonal T-cell activation in vivo, causing transient T-cell proliferation and cytokine release; used to induce T-cell depletion/activation-induced cell death and immune tolerance in autoimmunity

How Much FGK4.5/FGK45 (Anti-CD40) To Use In Vivo

Target: CD40 (costimulatory receptor on APCs)

Species: Mouse

Standard Dose Range: 50-300 μg per mouse

Recommended Route: Intraperitoneal or intravenous injection

Optimal Dosing Schedule: Single or consecutive daily doses

Applications: Agonistic CD40 activation to stimulate antigen-presenting cells; used as immune adjuvant in cancer immunotherapy, in vaccine models, and in autoimmune disease models


Administration Guidelines

Optimal Routes for In Vivo Antibody Administration

  • Intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection: Most common route for these antibodies due to convenience and proven efficacy
  • Intravenous (i.v.) injection: Used for faster or more uniform distribution (often allows slightly lower doses)
  • Intratumoral injection: Has been explored in some cases for checkpoint antibodies to maximize local effect
  • Dose timing: For sustained depletion or blockade, antibodies are typically administered every 2-4 days
  • Initial dosing: Sometimes a higher "loading dose" is used, followed by lower maintenance doses

How to Verify Successful Antibody Treatment

Always confirm depletion/blockade efficiency in your specific model by flow cytometry or functional assays. Efficiency may vary by strain, antibody lot, or experimental conditions.

Species Specificity Notes

  • The antibodies in this guide are primarily rat (or hamster) anti-mouse monoclonals used in mice
  • For rat studies, different clones are typically needed as most of these don't cross-react with rat antigens
    • Example rat-specific clones: W3/25 for rat CD4, OX8 for rat CD8, anti-rat NKR-P1 for NK cells
  • Mouse strain variation: Some antibodies (particularly NK1.1) work only in specific mouse strains (e.g., C57BL/6)
  • Clone 9D9 (anti-CTLA-4) is mouse IgG2b (not rat) and has special Treg-depleting properties in tumors

References

Note: These references represent a selection of published studies that have used the antibodies at the doses and routes described in this guide. Individual experiments may require optimization based on specific models, mouse strains, and experimental goals.

Last updated: March 2025

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