Antigen

About: Antigen is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 170233 publications have been published within this topic receiving 6982342 citations. The topic is also known as: antibody generator & Antigen.

Transfer of proteins from gels to diazobenzyloxymethyl-paper and detection with antisera: a method for studying antibody specificity and antigen structure

Abstract: We describe a rapid and very sensitive method for detecting proteins as antigens after their separation in polyacrylamide/agarose composite gels, with or without sodium dodecyl sulfate. The polyacrylamide matrix is crosslinked with a reagent that can be cleaved with periodate or alkali to facilitate transfer of the protein bands to diazobenzyloxymethyl-paper, where they are coupled covalently. Specific proteins are detected by autoradiography after sequential incubation with unfractionated, unlabeled specific antiserum and 125I-labeled protein A from Staphylococcus aureus. Antibody and protein A can be removed with urea and 2-mercaptoethanol, and the same paper can be probed again with a different antiserum. An antiserum specific for the simian virus 40 virion proteins VP3 and VP2 has been prepared; it does not crossreact with VP1, as demonstrated by this method. An antiserum raised in rabbits against simian virus 40-transformed rabbit kidney cells is shown to be directed primarily against a periodate-sensitive moiety present in tumor (T) antigen from infected or transformed cells, whereas an antiserum raised in rabbits against large T antigen purified from lytically infected monkey kidney cells by electrophoresis in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate [Lane, D.P. & Robbins, A.K. (1978) Virology 87, 182-193] is directed primarily against determinants that are not sensitive to periodate.

Normal human pregnancy is associated with an elevation in the immune suppressive CD25+ CD4+ regulatory T-cell subset.

Abstract: Summary CD4+ CD25+ T regulatory cells (TReg), suppress antigen-specific immune responses and are important for allograft tolerance. During pregnancy the mother tolerates an allograft expressing paternal antigens (the fetus) requiring substantial changes in immune regulation over a programmed period of time. We analysed whether immune-suppressive TReg cells were altered during pregnancy and therefore might play a part in this tolerant state. The presence of TReg cells was assessed in the blood of 25 non-pregnant, 63 pregnant and seven postnatal healthy women by flow cytometry. We observed an increase in circulating TReg cells during early pregnancy, peaking during the second trimester and then a decline postpartum. Isolated CD25+ CD4+ cells expressed FoxP3 messenger RNA, a marker of TReg cells, and suppressed proliferative responses of autologous CD4+ CD25- T cells to allogeneic dendritic cells. These data support the concept that normal pregnancy is associated with an elevation in the number of TReg cells which may be important in maintaining materno-fetal tolerance.

The leukocyte common antigen family.

Abstract: The leukocyte-common antigen (L-CA) family is a group of high molecular weight glycoproteins uniquely expressed on the surface of all leukocytes and their hemopoietic progenitors ( 114). Members of this family differ by both protein sequence and carbohydrate structures and are expressed by leukocyte populations in specific patterns ( 15-27). An example of the differential expression is shown for the rat L-CA family in Figure 1 ( 19). Thymocytes express the lowest apparent molecular weight form of 1 80 kd; B lymphocytes express the highest form, 220 kd; and T lymphocytes express multiple forms. Differences also exist between T-cell subsets (Figure 1 C); CD8 T cells (Te/s) express the higher molecular weight forms more abundantly than do CD4 T cells (T H) ' The cell-type-specific patterns of expression are conserved throughout mammalian evolution ( 1, 2, 91 1, 19, 28), and there appear to be similar patterns of expression in chicken lymphocytes (29). L-CA is referred to in the literature by different names, including T200 (30), B220 for the B cell form ( 1 2) , the mouse allotypic marker Ly-5 ( 3 1 ) and more recently CD45 (32). L-CA is the most accurate descriptive name and is used for the purpose of this review. The L-CA family is a major cell surface component of lymphocytes and carries much of the carbohydrate of these cells. It has been estimated that 10% of the lymphocyte surface is occupied by one or more L-CA members (33). Because of this abundance, L-CA was easily detected on SDS-poly­ acrylamide gels of lymphocyte membranes (36-39) (Figure lA). It was also initially characterized as the major specificity of antilymphocyte sera (34) and as an allotypic marker (31 , 35). The primary protein structure has been determined from the analysis of cDNA clones, and this information,

The receptor binding domain of the viral spike protein is an immunodominant and highly specific target of antibodies in SARS-CoV-2 patients.

Abstract: The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that first emerged in late 2019 is responsible for a pandemic of severe respiratory illness. People infected with this highly contagious virus can present with clinically inapparent, mild, or severe disease. Currently, the virus infection in individuals and at the population level is being monitored by PCR testing of symptomatic patients for the presence of viral RNA. There is an urgent need for SARS-CoV-2 serologic tests to identify all infected individuals, irrespective of clinical symptoms, to conduct surveillance and implement strategies to contain spread. As the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the spike protein is poorly conserved between SARS-CoVs and other pathogenic human coronaviruses, the RBD represents a promising antigen for detecting CoV-specific antibodies in people. Here we use a large panel of human sera (63 SARS-CoV-2 patients and 71 control subjects) and hyperimmune sera from animals exposed to zoonotic CoVs to evaluate RBD's performance as an antigen for reliable detection of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies. By day 9 after the onset of symptoms, the recombinant SARS-CoV-2 RBD antigen was highly sensitive (98%) and specific (100%) for antibodies induced by SARS-CoVs. We observed a strong correlation between levels of RBD binding antibodies and SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies in patients. Our results, which reveal the early kinetics of SARS-CoV-2 antibody responses, support using the RBD antigen in serological diagnostic assays and RBD-specific antibody levels as a correlate of SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies in people.

The Molecular Genetics of the T-Cell Antigen Receptor and T-Cell Antigen Recognition

Abstract: The genes encoding the alpha and beta chain of the T-cell receptor and the gamma gene have been cloned, and their structure, organization, ontogeny of expression, pattern of rearrangement, and diversification are now generally understood. In most cases, the immunoglobulin paradigm applied very well to the corresponding phenomena in T cells, although as described above, some interesting and potentially important differences exist. Nevertheless, there are still many unanswered questions regarding the ontogeny and mechanism of MHC-restricted antigen recognition, and it is not clear how far the immunoglobulin model can take us in understanding these phenomena. Although the alpha/beta heterodimer looks like an antibody and the binding sites of the two molecules may be similar, the rules governing B- and T-cell activation are clearly different, and the ligand(s) bound by the receptor are still poorly characterized. In the future, T-cell receptor genes, as well as those encoding the T-cell accessory molecules, will be altered in vitro and transferred into mammalian cells in culture and into whole organisms in an attempt to understand T-cell antigen recognition. These tools will allow us to manipulate the mammalian immune response in a variety of different ways that will have a profound impact both on our understanding of immunology and on medicine in the future.