Monoclonal Antibodies Against Bacteria. Volume II

In 1975, Kohler and Milstein published their article "Continuous cultures of fused cells secreting antibody of predefined specificity" in Nature, which resulted in the development of the new and exciting technique of monoclonal antibody production. Subsequently there has been an explosive development of research involving the production of monoclonals to microorganisms, cell surface antigens, toxins, and many other substances of interest. This book is Volume II of a series which focuses on the production and evaluation of monoclonal antibodies to antigens of bacterial origin. Both this and Volume I are organized into chapters on specific bacterial species. There are no general chapters dealing with basic techniques, theories, or methods of evaluation. The last two chapters deal with the general aspects of monoclonal antibodies to bacterial membrane proteins and industrial applications of monoclonals to bacteria. The chapters are each written by single authorities or teams who have published original papers in the field, and they are written in technical journal style. There are short introductory sections dealing with the structure, immunochemistry, pathogenic role, and rationale for the production of monoclonals for each species, and the bulk of each chapter is a presentation of data on characterization of the monoclonals by primary antigen-antibody interactions (such as ELISA), immunoblots, and, in some cases, functional tests of immunity (such as opsonophagocytosis, bacteriolysis, and animal protection assays). A strength of this book and an example of good editing is that the authors have followed a standard format, and there is an outline and page references for the subsections at the beginning of each chapter. Blots, micrographs, and figures are of good quality. The data presented is generally timely, and the references are mostly to publications from 1981-1984, with occasional references from 1985. This volume includes chapters on (generally murine) monoclonals to group A streptococcal M proteins, Legionella pneumophila, toxic shock toxin, meningococcal serotype antigens, surface antigens of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, E. coli capsules, and six other subjects. This is a useful text for investigators in the field of bacterial pathogenesis and immunochemistry. It is written for the researcher in the field and is not appropriate for a student starting to learn about monoclonal antibodies or bacterial pathogenesis. The data in this volume will be current and representative of the state of the art for such a brief period that it is worth the investment only for a library or laboratory actively pursuing this field. As such, it represents a benchmark in a rapidly progressing field.