Cancer research peptides and antibodies in this catalog serve four distinct experimental jobs: they act as checkpoint and receptor ligands in immuno-oncology assays, as angiogenesis modulators, as tumour-marker standards for quantitative immunoassay, and as protease substrates for studying invasion. Our cancer topic page collects the peptide standards, antisera, labeled tracers and kits that laboratories order for that work, grouped by parent molecule. This guide explains which families sit inside the topic, what each is ordered for, and which reagent format fits which question.
What sits under the cancer topic
Inclusion here is by research use, not by any claim about the molecule. A family appears under cancer when its parent protein or peptide is an established target, marker or tool in oncology literature — checkpoint proteins, angiogenesis regulators, gut hormones with documented mitogenic receptors on tumour lines, proteases implicated in matrix degradation, and secreted markers used to stage or track disease in models. Many families are shared with other topics: somatostatin appears in neuropeptide work, adiponectin in obesity studies. Nothing in this section is a therapeutic; every item is supplied for in-vitro and approved animal research only.
Immune checkpoint and immuno-oncology reagents
Checkpoint biology drives a large share of current orders. The relevant families supply blocking peptides, extracellular-domain fragments, and the antisera used to detect expression in tumour tissue:
- PD-1 and PD-L1 — peptide fragments spanning the interaction interface, used in competition assays, binding studies and as immunogens; antisera for immunohistochemical scoring of tumour sections.
- CTLA-4 — the second classical checkpoint axis, ordered as peptide standards and antibodies for T-cell co-stimulation work.
- TNF and interleukin families — cytokine peptides and fragments for tumour-microenvironment studies, and as calibrators for multiplex panels.
- CXCL and CCL chemokines, plus SDF-1 (CXCL12) — chemotaxis and metastatic-homing assays; SDF-1/CXCR4 is one of the most-studied axes in tumour dissemination.
Angiogenesis and anti-angiogenic peptides
The angiogenesis literature is unusually peptide-rich, because several endogenous inhibitors are proteolytic fragments of larger matrix proteins:
- Endostatin — the collagen XVIII C-terminal fragment, the archetypal endogenous angiogenesis inhibitor in endothelial migration and tube-formation assays.
- Anginex — a designed beta-sheet peptide that targets galectin-1 on activated endothelium; a synthetic tool rather than a natural fragment.
- Vasohibin and PEDF — endothelium-derived negative regulators, ordered as standards and for antibody-based detection.
- Thrombospondin — the TSP-1 type-1 repeat peptides (including the ABT-510 lineage) are standard positive controls in anti-angiogenic screens.
- Angiopoietin — Ang-1/Ang-2 and Tie2 pathway reagents for vessel-stability studies, overlapping heavily with the cardiovascular topic.
Tumour markers, growth-factor and invasion families
The remaining families divide between markers measured in samples and mechanistic tools:
- Chromogranin A — the standard secretory marker for neuroendocrine tumours, and one of the most frequently ordered assay-kit targets in this topic.
- Gastrin and CCK — CCK-B/gastrin receptor signalling on gastrointestinal tumour lines; ordered as full-length peptides and as receptor-selective analogs.
- Bombesin and gastrin-releasing peptide — historically important autocrine growth loops in small-cell lung carcinoma models, still used for GRPR-targeted probe development.
- Somatostatin — SSTR-subtype pharmacology underlies both neuroendocrine tumour imaging and a large body of antiproliferative cell work.
- Survivin and Bcl family peptides — apoptosis-regulation tools, including BH3-domain peptides used to probe mitochondrial priming.
- uPAR, cathepsin and autotaxin — the invasion and matrix-remodelling group; cathepsin substrates are usually ordered as fluorogenic labeled peptides.
- Osteopontin and glypican — adhesion and co-receptor families with established marker roles, glypican-3 particularly in hepatocellular models.
- TGF-β — context-dependent tumour suppressor and promoter; peptide standards and antisera support both directions of that literature.
Which formats the cancer topic contains
Four product types recur across these families. Synthetic peptide standards are the workhorses: blocking peptides, receptor ligands and immunogens, typically ≥95% HPLC purity in microgram-to-milligram fills. Labeled peptides matter more here than in most topics, because protease assays depend on FRET-paired fluorogenic substrates and because biotinylated ligands drive pull-down work. Polyclonal antisera support immunohistochemistry on tumour sections and Western detection. ELISA and EIA kits quantify secreted markers such as chromogranin A or endostatin in plasma and conditioned medium. Pull-downs and immunoprecipitations additionally use magnetic beads, and epitope-mapping projects use peptide libraries — overlapping scans across a tumour antigen are a routine request.
How laboratories choose within a family
Three decisions dominate. First, fragment versus full-length: checkpoint work almost always uses interface fragments, not the whole ectodomain, and a blocking peptide is validated for absorbing an antibody rather than for receptor pharmacology. Second, species: mouse xenograft and syngeneic models need mouse-sequence reagents, and cross-reactivity of an antiserum raised against the human sequence cannot be assumed — every item states its species reactivity. Third, assay compatibility: a fluorogenic substrate is defined by its label pair and quenching chemistry as much as by its sequence, so check the excitation and emission profile against your plate reader before ordering.
Handling notes for this topic
Most cancer-topic peptides are small, lyophilised and stable for years sealed at −20 °C. Two cautions apply more than usual. Hydrophobic sequences — several BH3 and thrombospondin-derived peptides — dissolve poorly in aqueous buffer and may need an organic co-solvent; see peptide solubility. And fluorogenic substrates are light-sensitive: aliquot under reduced light and store in amber vials. General practice is in the storage guide, the aliquoting guide, and for content verification the COA guide.
Where to go next
Browse the full cancer topic or start from the research catalog hub. Adjacent guides cover the cardiovascular section, which shares the angiogenesis families, and the assay kit type guide if your question is marker quantitation rather than mechanism.