Validating an antibody is not the same as characterizing an antibody. A data image of an antibody used in an immunoassay with or without controls could be described as characterizing an antibody. But validating an antibody means that you have determined the antibody’s sensitivity for the target, its specificity for off target binding and its reproducibility, especially to demonstrate that the antibody’s properties are consistent from lot-to-lot.
Legitimate methods for validating antibodies are immunoassay specific, meaning that the methods used for Western blotting would not necessarily apply to other applications such as ELISA, immunoprecipitation or immunohistochemistry.
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