Mugwort and ragweed pollens have been considered as important respiratory allergens in Korea. These two pollens are abundant in the air of Seoul from August through October. Many ragweed-sensitive patients have shown concurrent sensitivities to mugwort pollen. However the antigenic relationship between these two pollens has not been clarified. To observe the cross-reactivity between them, we developed polyclonal anti-mugwort and anti-ragweed antibodies by immunization on New Zealand white rabbits, and performed crossed immunoelectrophoresis(CIE) with two pollen extracts. Five precipitation lines were formed by mugwort and anti-mugwort antibody. One precipitation line was formed by ragweed and anti-ragweed antibody. There was no reaction from mugwort and anti-ragweed antibody, and from ragweed and anti-mugwort antibody. These results indicate that there is no cross-antigenicity between mugwort and ragweed pollens.
Animal ; Antibodies/immunology ; Cross Reactions ; Immunoelectrophoresis, Two-Dimensional ; Pollen/*immunology ; Rabbits

Glanzmann's thrombasthenia is a rare autosomal recessive hemorrhagic disorder characterized by prolonged bleeding time, ad deficient or absent clot retraction in the presence of normal platelet count. The major underlying abnormality in this disease is grossly defective first-phase aggregation of platelet, which are unresponsive to ADP or other platelet agonists such as epinephrine, collagen, thrombin in any concentration. This disability is caused by a decrease or absence of the platelet membrans glycoprotein IIb-IIIa complex, a member of the integrin family of adhesive receptors involved in cell-cell and cell-matrix fibronectin, and vitronectin On the development of surface labeling technique, a variety of biochemical techniques such as radioimmunoassay, crossed immunoelectrophoresis and SDS-PAGE have been used to study the structure and the function of platelet membrane glycoproteins, and to detect the platelet functional defect. But all of these techniques demand a relatively large amount of homogeneous paletelet population that requires manipulation through isolation and washing procedures before analysis. In order to eliminaste such an intricate procedure, we have applied method for analyzing platelet surface components in whole blood using monoclonal antibody and flow cytometry to recognize the absence of severe reduction of platelet membrane glycoprotien llb-llla complex. Platelet analysis by flow cytometry is a successful alternative rapid diagnostic technique for Glanzmann's thrombasthenia patients as well as well as for carriers of this disease. Fow cytometry technique provides a sensitive tool for investigating platelet functional defects caused by altered expression or deficiency of platelet surface proteins.
Adenosine Diphosphate ; Adhesives ; Bleeding Time ; Blood Platelets* ; Clot Retraction ; Collagen ; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel ; Epinephrine ; Fibronectins ; Flow Cytometry* ; Glycoproteins ; Hemorrhagic Disorders ; Humans ; Immunoelectrophoresis, Two-Dimensional ; Membrane Glycoproteins* ; Membrane Proteins ; Membranes* ; Platelet Count ; Platelet Membrane Glycoproteins ; Radioimmunoassay ; Thrombasthenia* ; Thrombin ; Vitronectin

OBJECTIVETo screen and identify the immunogenic membrane antigens in human pancreatic cancer for early diagnosis.

METHODSMembrane protein was extracted from pancreatic cancer cell lines and separated by using 2-DE. One of the two parallel 2-DE gels went for staining while the other underwent immunoblot. Serum IgG, which was purified from clinically collected sera of pancreatic cancer patients, was used as the primary antibodies for the immunoblot. Positive dots of immunoblot were identified by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and PMF matching, and then evaluated by bio-informatics methods. The candidate membrane antigens were further validated respectively in cell lines and tissues by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry.

RESULTSThe immunoblot of mixed membrane protein with serum IgG from cancer patients showed eight positive dots. These dots were identified with MALDI and PMF as: VDAC-1, VDAC-2, CHCHD3, SLP-2 and TOM40. RT-PCR showed that these membrane antigens were expressed in several pancreatic cancer cell lines. Immunohistochemistry showed prominent SLP-2 over expression in cancer tissue.

CONCLUSIONSVDAC-1, VDAC-2, CHCHD3, SLP-2, and TOM40 are the new candidate immunogenic membrane antigens of pancreatic cancer. These membrane antigens can be subsequently tested in high dangerous population for early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

Biomarkers, Tumor ; analysis ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoblotting ; Immunoelectrophoresis, Two-Dimensional ; Immunoglobulin G ; blood ; immunology ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Mass Screening ; methods ; Membrane Proteins ; analysis ; genetics ; Middle Aged ; Pancreatic Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; immunology ; metabolism ; Proteomics ; methods ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization