Monoclonal Antibodies: Basic and Medical Applications for Pathogenic Fungi

摘要

The successful application of monoclonal antibody technology for diagnosing and treating deep fungal infections requires the solution of 3 interrelated problems: (1) characterization of fungal surface antigens associated with IgG as well as IgM responses, (2) identification of epitopes unique to individual fungi, as (3) choice of immunogens for in vivo or in vitro immunization that stimulate antibody producing lymphocytes but not immunosuppressive responses. The most urgently needed immunodiagnostic application is development of enzyme immunoassays, latex coagulation, or others rapid tests for fungal antigens, provided suitable antibodies can be identified. Monoclonal antibodies have numerous other potential applications in studies of fungal taxonomy, morphology and development, immunologic relatedness, affinity purification of antigens, imaging of fungal infection sites, vaccine development and targeted drug therapy.