Diagram of immunoprecipitation (IP) using either pre-immobilized or free antibodies. Each step involves incubation, followed by bead collection (centrifugation or magnetic) and removal of the solution. Wash steps are also included after each incubation step. Elution at the final step typically involves heating the beads in sample loading buffer for polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), which results in denaturing the proteins (including the antibody) and irreparably damaging the beads, which are discarded.