The dose/response curve in enzyme-multiplied immunoassays (EMIT) and related techniques may be described by the same "four-parameter logistic function" as has proven useful in radioimmunoassays, immunoradiometric assays (IRMA), and two-site immunoradiometric ("sandwhich") assays. This function provides an empirical description of the dose/response curve by use of an objective least-squares regr...

The rapid diagnosis of infectious diseases is important for the confirmation of diagnosis and therapeutic considerations. In some life-threatening instances like meningitis, an early diagnosis will facilitate appropriate intervention. Conventional methods like culture for diagnosis are considered standard and reliable but the handicap is the delay, usually around 48 hours, before confirmative r...

Ecoimmunology utilizes techniques from traditionally laboratory-based disciplines--for example, immunology, genomics, proteomics, neuroendocrinology, and cell biology--to reveal how the immune systems of wild organisms both shape and respond to ecological and evolutionary pressures. Immunological phenotypes are embedded within a mechanistic pathway leading from genotype through physiology to sh...

The morbidity and mortality related to respiratory tract diseases is enormous, with hundreds of millions of individuals afflicted and four million people dying each year. Understanding the immunological processes in the mucosa that govern outcome following pathogenic encounter could lead to novel therapies. There is a need to study responses at mucosal surfaces in humans for two reasons: (i) Im...

DNAX accessory molecule 1 (DNAM-1) is expressed on all CD8(+) T cells and promotes their activation and effector function. DNAM-1 interacts with LFA-1, a critical molecule for immunological synapse formation between T cells and APCs, and for cytotoxic killing of target cells. Mice that lack DNAM-1 display abnormal T cell responses and antitumor activity; however, the mechanism involved is uncle...

The activation of biological T cell responses requires prolonged contact with APCs and sustained signaling. We investigated whether signaling must be uninterrupted to commit T cells to cytokine production or whether T cell activation may also result from summation of interrupted signals. Upon periodic addition and removal of a src kinase inhibitor, human CD4(+) T cells destroyed and re-formed i...

Immunological detection methods have become increasingly important in microbial ecology for the tracking of specific microorganisms and for community analysis. For a reliable application of these techniques, the monoclonal antibodies or polyclonal antisera used have to fulfill several quality criteria. Cross reactivity, cellular localization of the antigenic determinant, affinity characteristic...