ABSTRACT
Robert (Bob) Sim had a profound effect on almost every aspect of my approach to scientific research, acting as a mentor and moral compass through the many different stages of my career [...].
Subject(s)
Immunochemistry/history , Complement Factor H/chemistry , Complement Factor H/history , History, 20th Century , History, 21st Century , United KingdomABSTRACT
Bob joined the MRC Immunochemistry Unit, within the Department of Biochemistry at Oxford University, as a D [...].
Subject(s)
Immunochemistry/history , Complement System Proteins/history , History, 20th Century , History, 21st Century , United KingdomSubject(s)
Enzymes/metabolism , Histocytochemistry , Muscles/metabolism , Muscles/pathology , Adenosine Triphosphatases/metabolism , Adenosine Triphosphate/metabolism , Adult , Biopsy/history , Biopsy/methods , Enzymes/analysis , Histocytochemistry/history , Histocytochemistry/methods , History, 20th Century , History, 21st Century , Humans , Immunochemistry/history , Immunochemistry/methods , Muscles/cytology , Muscles/enzymologyABSTRACT
Four decades ago, immunological research was dominated by the field of lymphoid biology. It was commonly accepted that multicellular eukaryotes defend themselves through phagocytosis. The lack of lymphoid cells in insects and other simpler animals, however, led to the common notion that they might simply lack the capacity defend themselves with humoral factors. This view was challenged by microbiologist Hans G. Boman and co-workers in a series of publications that led to the advent of antimicrobial peptides as a universal arm of the immune system. Besides ingenious research, Boman ignited his work by posing the right questions. He started off by asking himself a simple question: 'Antibodies take weeks to produce while many microbes divide hourly; so how come we stay healthy?'. This led to two key findings in the field: the discovery of an inducible and highly potent antimicrobial immune response in Drosophila in 1972, followed by the characterization of cecropin in 1981. Despite broadly being considered an insect-specific response at first, the work of Boman and co-workers eventually created a bandwagon effect that unravelled various aspects of innate immunity.This article is part of the themed issue 'Evolutionary ecology of arthropod antimicrobial peptides'.
Subject(s)
Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides/history , Drosophila melanogaster/genetics , Drosophila melanogaster/immunology , Entomology/history , Immunity, Innate , Insect Proteins/history , Animals , Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides/genetics , Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides/metabolism , Cecropins/genetics , Cecropins/history , Cecropins/metabolism , History, 20th Century , Immunochemistry/history , Insect Proteins/genetics , Insect Proteins/metabolismABSTRACT
During the second half of the XIX Century, microbiological sciences acquired a set of conceptual, methodological and technological tools that radically transformed theoretical and empirical knowledge of the microorganisms, with particular regard to their biochemical properties and their etiopathological role in infectious diseases. During that period, theoretical and experimental researches in general microbiology and immunochemistry addressed the nature and empirical appearances of microbes, both pathogens and not, and the origins of chemical properties of immune sera. In other words, microbiologists tried operatively explaining the origins of the morphological, physiological, and pathogenetic differences between the microbial species. At the same time physiologists and biochemists investigated the chemical basis of the selective or specific interactions between microorganisms or their chemical components and humoral factors contained into the sera produced by the body in response to the contact with microbes. During the half a century, between 1880 and 1930, qualitative and quantitative experimental studies demonstrated that the specificity of microbiological phenomena depended on the biology of microbes and that the specificity of immune reactions hinged upon the biochemical properties of special molecules synthesized by some physiological system which can recognize and react against any foreign substance.
Subject(s)
Immunochemistry/history , Microbiology/history , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Sensitivity and SpecificityABSTRACT
La identificación de la propiedad antitóxica del suero en 1890 por Emil von Behring y la introducción del término Antikörper por Paul Ehrlich en 1891 para referirse a uno de los mecanismos de defensa más relevantes del sistema inmunitario adaptativo, es decir, los mediadores de la respuesta inmunitaria humoral, marcan el inicio de la etapa de la inmunología moderna. La estructura en Y fue descrita hace cincuenta años por Gerald M. Edelman y Rodney R. Porter. Así, al cumplirse el cincuentenario de la descripción de la estructura química de los anticuerpos, consideramos oportuno no dejar pasar inadvertido el hecho a través de una breve remembranza y la revisión de dichos hallazgos (AU)
The identification of the antitoxic property of serum in 1890 by Emil von Behring and the introduction of the term Antikörper by Paul Ehrlich in 1891 referring to one of the most relevant mechanisms of defense of the adaptive immune system, i.e., the humoral immune response mediators, mark the beginning of modern immunology. The Y structure was described 50 years ago by Gerald M. Edelman and Rodney R. Porter. Thus, on the fiftieth anniversary of the description of the chemical structure of antibodies, we consider it appropriate to celebrate this fact by sketching a brief outline and review of these epoch-making achievements (AU)
Subject(s)
Humans , Antibodies/chemistry , Immunochemistry/history , Anniversaries and Special EventsABSTRACT
Plasma cell tumors (PCTs) in mice became available at an exciting period in immunology when many scientists and laboratories were occupied with how to explain the genetic basis of antibody diversity as well as antibody structure itself. An unlimited source of PCTs in an inbred strain of mice became a useful adjunct in these efforts. A PCT was a greatly expanded monoclone and a source of a single molecular species of immunoglobulin (Ig) molecule. The PCTs provided not only the components of the Ig-producing cell but also potentially functional secreted products. Many of the monoclonal Igs produced by PCTs in the mouse and others found in humans were found to have specific antigen-binding activities. These became the prototypes of monoclonal antibodies. This chapter describes the origins of PCTs in mice and attempts to recapture some of the ambience of the day albeit from personal recollection. The great discovery of the hybridoma technology by Cesar Milstein and Georges Kohler in 1975 began a new direction in immunology.
Subject(s)
Plasmacytoma/history , Animals , History, 20th Century , Immunochemistry/history , MiceABSTRACT
Having defined the protein nature of antibodies under the tutelage of Oswald Avery, Michael Heidelberger was the first to apply mathematics to the reaction of antibodies and their antigens (the "precipitin reaction"). Heidelberger's calculations launched decades of research that helped reveal the specificity, function, and origin of antibodies.
Subject(s)
Antibodies/isolation & purification , Immunochemistry/history , Antibodies/chemistry , History, 20th Century , Nitrogen/chemistryABSTRACT
In 1923, a young chemist-turned-microbiologist and his mentor made the startling discovery that bacterial sugars could be targeted by the immune system--a groundbreaking finding that helped launch the field of immunochemistry.
Subject(s)
Allergy and Immunology/history , Immunochemistry/history , Polysaccharides, Bacterial/history , History, 20th CenturySubject(s)
Blood Group Antigens/history , Nobel Prize , Philately , Austria , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Humans , Immunochemistry/history , Japan , United StatesSubject(s)
Carbohydrates/history , Immunochemistry/history , Blood Group Antigens/chemistry , Blood Group Antigens/history , Blood Group Antigens/immunology , Carbohydrates/chemistry , Carbohydrates/immunology , Glycoproteins/chemistry , Glycoproteins/history , Glycoproteins/immunology , History, 20th Century , United StatesABSTRACT
Emil von Behring, an immunologist, received the first Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1901 for his studies on serum therapy of diphtheria. Seventeen Nobel Prizes have been awarded to scientists for their work in immunology and related disciplines. E. Metchnikoff and P. Ehrlich were pioneers who became associated with cellular and humoral theories of immunity, respectively. Almroth Wright described opsonins and was a vigorous advocate of vaccine therapy for bacterial diseases. He was an influential scientist and mentor who served as the model for Bernard Shaw's play, The Doctor's Dilemma. Immunochemistry developed through the work of K. Landsteiner, M. Heidelberger, E. Kabat, and many others. At mid-20th century, cell-selection theories of antibody formation championed by N. Jerne and F.M. Burnet shifted the field from a chemical to a biological orientation. Myeloma immunoglobulins, Bence Jones proteins, and monoclonal macroglobulins from patients and mice played a central role in elucidation of normal immunoglobulin structure, genetics, synthesis, and metabolism. By the late 1960s, antibody activity in some human myeloma and Waldenström macroglobulin paraproteins had been documented. Subsequently, other human paraproteins were shown to have antigen-binding properties, principally to auto- or bacterial antigens. The development of hybridoma technology by G. Köhler and C. Milstein revolutionized immunology after 1975. These investigators demonstrated that antibody-producing cells of virtually any desired specificity could be fused with a myeloma cell line, the result being unlimited amounts of homogeneous (monoclonal) antibodies carrying that specificity. Monoclonal antibodies have been shown to have efficacy in cancer therapy, particularly in patients with lymphoma and breast cancer. It is likely that this approach, alone and in combination with other modalities, will prove useful for patients with additional types of malignancies.
Subject(s)
Allergy and Immunology/history , Antibodies, Monoclonal/history , Hybridomas , History, 19th Century , History, 20th Century , Humans , Immunochemistry/historySubject(s)
ABO Blood-Group System/history , Biomarkers/blood , Blood Grouping and Crossmatching/history , ABO Blood-Group System/genetics , ABO Blood-Group System/immunology , Allergy and Immunology/history , Animals , History, 20th Century , Humans , Immunochemistry/history , Serology/history , United StatesABSTRACT
Los 200 años de historia de la inmunología se pueden separar en 2 períodos: 1796-1958 y 1959 a la fecha. Este último período se ha caracterizado por avances científicos a nivel molecular. Veinticuatro investigadores han obtenido 15 premios Nobel por sus aportes en el campo de la inmunología: Boehring, Koch, Erlich, Metchnikoff, Carrel, Richet, Bordet, Lansteiner, Theiler, Bovet, Burnet, Medawar, Edelman, Porter, Yalow, Benacerraf, Dausset, Snell, Jerne, Koller, Milstein, Tonegawa, Zinkernagel y Doherty. En este capítulo se mencionan los avances más importantes en inmunidad, serología, inmunoquímica e inmunobiología, realizados por alrededorde 70 científicos durante los dos siglos de historia de esta ciencia