BLyS inhibition eliminates primary B cells but leaves natural and acquired humoral immunity intact

We have used an inhibiting antibody to determine whether preimmune versus antigen-experienced B cells differ in their requisites for BLyS, a cytokine that controls differentiation and survival. Whereas in vivo BLyS inhibition profoundly reduced naïve B cell numbers and primary immune responses, it had a markedly smaller effect on memory B cells and long-lived plasma cells, as well as secondary immune responses. There was heterogeneity within the memory pools, because IgM-bearing memory cells were sensitive to BLyS depletion whereas IgG-bearing memory cells were not, although both were more resistant than naïve cells. There was also heterogeneity within B1 pools, as splenic but not peritoneal B1 cells were diminished by anti-BLyS treatment, yet the number of natural antibody-secreting cells remained constant. Together, these findings show that memory B cells and natural antibody-secreting cells are BLyS-independent and suggest that these pools can be separately manipulated.

Signal Enhancement of Surface Plasmon Resonance Based on Gold Nanoparticle-Antibody Complex for Immunoassay

In the immunoassay based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) system, the signal enhancement was done by means of the conjugate of gold (Au) nanoparticle-antibody fragment. Antibody fragment was prepared for the improved immobilization based on Au-thiol interaction. Through the ellipsometric analysis on surface, the conjugation between Au and antibody fragment was performed in the oriented manner. The optimal fabrication conditions such as concentration and incubation time were determined for the constant size of the fabricated nanoparticle-antibody conjugate. Through the plot of SPR angle difference versus antigen concentration, the linear correlation was achieved, of which the detection limit was 100 fg/ml.