|
|
||
21. The Facilitated Antigen Binding (FAB) Assay — A Protocol to Measure Allergen-Specific Inhibitory Antibody Activity
| Abstract |
|
|
Specific allergen immunotherapy is an effective treatment for IgE-mediated allergic disease and involves T- and B-cell mediated
events. IgE receptors on the surface of antigen-presenting cells facilitate the presentation of allergens in the presence
of specific IgE antibody resulting in T-cell activation. Interference with these IgE-dependent mechanisms by ‘blocking’ IgG
antibodies may downregulate T-cell responses and manifest as a reduction in allergic responses in vivo.
The vigor of proliferative responses by T-cell clones is representative of the binding of allergen-IgE complexes to B cells.
Therefore, a simplified assay can be employed that measures the binding of allergen-IgE complexes to B cells instead of a
more complex assay involving proliferative assays using antigen-specific T-cell clones. Allergen-IgE complexes can be easily
detected by flow cytometry and this simplified technique is called the IgE-facilitated allergen binding (IgE-FAB) assay which
is described in this chapter.
Affiliation(s): (3) Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College, South Kensington, London
Book Title: Allergy Methods and Protocols
Series: Methods in Molecular Medicine | Volume: 138 | Pub. Date: Dec-07-2007 | Page Range: 255-261 | DOI: 10.1007/978-1-59745-366-0_21
Subject: Microbiology
Comments (Loading...) |
||
 Loading... |