A 62-year-old woman was admitted for nephrotic syndrome and lung tumor. A renal biopsy showed membranous features of the glomeruli. Immunofluorescence studies revealed granular IgG4-κ deposits along with the glomerular basement membrane. Electron microscopy revealed granular electron-dense deposits. Further study denied multiple myeloma. Light microscopy of the resected lung tumor revealed IgG4...

Background The immunomodulatory drug (IMiD) lenalidomide has single-agent activity against RRMM, and synergistic effects when combined with dexamethasone. Overexpression of PD-L1 is associated with tumor invasiveness in MM cells and may be a mechanism of immune evasion. Pembrolizumab, a highly selective, humanized IgG4 anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody designed to block interaction of PD-1 with PD-...

At least seven distinct epidermal growth factor (EGF) ligands bind to and activate the EGF receptor (EGFR). This activation plays an important role in the embryo and in the maintenance of adult tissues. Importantly, pharmacologic EGFR inhibition also plays a critical role in the pathophysiology of diverse disease states, especially cancer. The roles of specific EGFR ligands are poorly defined i...

BACKGROUND Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) is an aggressive cutaneous neuroendocrine malignancy with limited treatment options. Several lines of evidence support the programmed death-1/programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1) axis as a likely contributor to immune evasion in MCC. CASE PRESENTATION We report a case of a patient with metastatic MCC with a significant and durable response to nivolumab...

Objective(s): Leishmaniasis is endemic in 88 countries. Amastigote forms of Leishmania are experts at exploiting host cell processes to establish infection. Monoclonal antibodies are key reagents used in the diagnosis of infectious and non-infectious diseases. The aim of this study was to produce monoclonal antibodies against axenic amastigotes of the Leishmania infantum strain in Iran.Material...

Abstract Background As the most abundant immunoglobulin in blood and common human isotype used for therapeutic monoclonal antibodies, engagement subsequent activation of its Fc receptors by IgGs are crucial antibody function. While generally assumed to be relatively constant within subtypes, recent studies reveal that variable regions can exert distal effects modulating antibody–receptor intera...

Human IgG4 antibody shows therapeutically useful properties compared with the IgG1, IgG2, and IgG3 subclasses. Thus IgG4 does not activate complement and shows conformational variability. These properties are attributable to its hinge region, which is the shortest of the four IgG subclasses. Using high throughput scattering methods, we studied the solution structure of wild-type IgG4(Ser(222)) ...

IgG4, the least represented human IgG subclass in serum, is an intriguing antibody with unique biological properties, such as the ability to undergo Fab-arm exchange and limit immune complex formation. The lack of effector functions, such as antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity and complement-dependent cytotoxicity, is desirable for therapeutic purposes. IgG4 plays a protective role in...

IgG4 autoimmune diseases are characterized by the presence of antigen-specific autoantibodies of the IgG4 subclass and contain well-characterized diseases such as muscle-specific kinase myasthenia gravis, pemphigus, and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. In recent years, several new diseases were identified, and by now 14 antigens targeted by IgG4 autoantibodies have been described. The IgG4 ...

A murine IgM monoclonal antibody (MA-2C6) with κ-light chains directed against an antigenic determinant of outer surface protein A (OspA) of the Lyme disease spirochete, Borreliaburgdorferi, is produced. This antibody could bind specifically to OspA antigen of several isolates of B. burgdorferi, but not to the non-Lyme disease bacteria such as T. pallidum and B. hermsii. Antibody MA-2C6 was pur...