Hypersensitivity reactions

Introduction/Definitions: Hypersensitive reactions are inflammatory reactions within the humoral (Types I-III) or cell-mediated branches of the immune system that lead to extensive tissue damage. Inflammation is a complex process, accompanied by the…

lymphoid organs

Introduction/Definitions: Lymphatic system: is a compartmentalized network of vessels, cells and specialized accessroy organs. It starts in the farthest reaches of the tissues as tiny capilaries that transports a special…

Superantigens

A superantigen is an antigen bound by antibodies found in the preimmune repertoire without the requirement of adaptive maturation of antibody variable domains. A bacterial toxin that is capable of…

Innate immunity

Whereas the adaptive immune system arose in evolution less than 500 million years ago and is confined to vertebrates, innate immune responses have been found among both vertebrates and invertebrates, as well…

Aging

See also Neurodegenerative Diseases  Companies: Fountain Life Omegal Therapeutics: takes advantage of the organization of genes and regualtory elements into conserved 3D chromatin lopps. There are about 15k of these loops…

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC)

ProPred (graphical web tool for predicting MHC class II binding regions in antigenic protein sequences). Introduction: The MHC (also called the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system) comprises tightly linked genes…

Adaptive Immunity

Introduction: The adaptive immune response is called "adaptive" because over the course of an infection, it adjusts to optimally handle the particular microorganism responsible for the disease. Adaptive immune responses…

Immune Response

Introduction: Definitions: Authophagy: Once intracellular bacteria are recognized by the cell, it can attempt to destroy the pathogens. This can be accomplished by the process of autophagy. First discovered as…

Source of Antibodies

Transgenic Animals:  A major obstacle in the clinical use of monoclonal antibodies in humans is that such antibodies are usually mouse antibodies and thus recognized as foreign, inducing an anti-isotype…

phage display

Companies engaged in Phage Display:  Dyax  Pharmacia Recombinant Phage Antibody System, Stratagene SurfZAP™  Definitions: Phagemid: is a plasmid vector having a bacterial origin of replication and a copy of an intergenic…