Immunization against Infection Using Anti-Idiotype AB

摘要

Immunoglobulin molecules such as IgG recognize an antigenic determinant (epitope) by means of binding sites located in the variable region of the antibody called the antigen-binding site or idiotype. It is possible to produce anti-idiotypic (anti-Id) antibodies that recognize and bind to this site and that in turn contain an internal image of the antigen. These antibodies thus resemble the actual antigen and offer a means of immunizing against specific epitopes (for example, a virus antigen) without the presence of the actual virus. To determine if anti-Id antibodies could be developed and used to induce an immune response against herpes simplex virus, monclonal antibodies were first produced against the type 1 (HSV-1) and the type 2 (HSV-2) viruses. Using several techniques, these antibodies were then injected into mice and rabbits to produce both monclonal and polyclonal antibodies. After screening, the polyclonal anti-Id antibodies were found to be most active and were used to immunize mice in attempts to induce the formation of anti-HSV antibodies. The results indicated that there was weak response of the rabbit serum towards homogous virus-infected cells. The results also indicate the feasibility of this type of research and points toward additional experiments to optimize the experimental procedures used.