BACKGROUND the structural proteins of rubella virus, the capsid protein C and the envelope glycoproteins E1 and E2 were produced in lepidopteran insect cells using baculovirus expression vectors. The C-terminal ends of the corresponding proteins were fused to a polyhistidine tag for easy and gentle purification by metal ion affinity chromatography. OBJECTIVES to investigate the maturation of ...

Despite almost universal use of measles vaccines in recent decades, epidemics of the disease continue to occur. Understanding the role of primary vaccine failure (failure to seroconvert after vaccination) and secondary vaccine failures (waning immunity after seroconversion) in measles epidemics is important for the evaluation of measles control programs in developing countries. After a measles ...

An immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody avidity assay which uses protein-denaturing agents and a modification of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay have been investigated for their usefulness in distinguishing primary genital herpes simplex virus (HSV) infections from nonprimary infections. Forty-nine serum specimens from patients with primary, recurrent, and nonprimary first-episode genital herpe...

INTRODUCTION The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence and functional effects of antibodies directed against Factor (F)Xa and other serine proteases (SP) in patients with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). METHODS Serum from patients with APS (n=59), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE; n=106), other autoimmune rheumatic disease (ARD; n=63) and 40 healthy controls (HC) were tested for I...

BACKGROUND Vaccine-induced human antibodies to surface components of Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumonia are correlated with protection. Monoclonal antibodies to surface components of Mycobacterium tuberculosis are also protective in animal models. We have characterized human antibodies that bind to the surface of live M. tuberculosis. METHODS Plasma from humans with latent tub...

To enhance preclinical evaluation of serological immune responses to the individual diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis (DTP) components of DTP combination vaccines, a fast hexavalent bead-based method was developed. This multiplex immunoassay (MIA) can simultaneously determine levels of specific mouse serum IgG antibodies to P antigens P.69 pertactin (P.69 Prn), filamentous hemagglutinin (FHA),...

We describe the avidity maturation of IgGs in human toxoplasmosis using sequential serum samples from accidental and natural infections. In accidental cases, avidity increased continuously throughout infection while naturally infected patients showed a different profile. Twenty-five percent of sera from chronic patients having specific IgM positive results could be appropriately classified usin...

We present evidence here for two stages in B-memory cell development, the first of which is T independent and the second T dependent. For these studies, we use a new type of T-deficient mouse (allotype suppressed) which specifically lacks T-helper activity (Th) for a subset of memory B cells responsible for approximately 10% of the overall IgG antibody response. We have shown elsewhere that the...