The Antigens

The Blood Group Antigen FactsBook has been an essential resource in the hematology, transfusion and immunogenetics fields since its first publication in the late 1990s.The third edition of The Blood Group Antigen FactsBook has been completely revised, updated and expanded to cover all 32 blood group systems. It blends scientific background and clinical applications and provides busy researchers and clinicians with at-a-glance information on over 330 blood group antigens, including history and information on terminology, expression, chromosomal assignment, carrier molecular description, functions, molecular bases of antigens and phenotypes, effect of enzymes/chemicals, clinical significance, disease associations and key references. Includes over 330 entries on blood group antigens in individual factsheetsOffers a logical and concise catalogue structure for each antigen in an improved interior design for quick reference. Written by 3 international experts from the field of immunohematology and transfusion medicine.

The Antigens, Volume II is a comprehensive treatise covering all aspects of antigens, including their chemistry and biology as well as their immunologic role and expression. Topics covered range from protein antigens and blood group antigens to low molecular weight antigens and immunoglobulin A. The idiotypy of antibodies is also explored, along with the application of antibodies to the measurement of substances of physiological and pharmacological interest. Comprised of six chapters, this volume begins with a discussion on the molecular bases of antigenicity and immunogenicity of proteins, followed by a chapter dealing with blood group antigens. The immunologic effects of low molecular weight antigens are then considered, together with their elicitation of allergic reactions and their tolerance and specific inhibition of the immune response. The next chapter focuses on the use of antibodies to measure substances of physiological and pharmacological interest, with emphasis on the general principle of quantitative immunoassay. The book also analyzes the idiotypy of antibodies before concluding with a description of the antibody functions of immunoglobulin A. This monograph will be of interest to practitioners and researchers in immunology, experimental and clinical medicine, biochemistry, and other disciplines.

The Janeway's Immunobiology CD-ROM, Immunobiology Interactive, is included with each book, and can be purchased separately. It contains animations and videos with voiceover narration, as well as the figures from the text for presentation purposes.

Antigens, Lymphoid Cells, and the Immune Response deals with the nature and properties of antigens and with the functional anatomy and cell physiology of the mammalian lymphoid system which responds to antigens. The book discusses the central questions in cellular immunology; the antigens and the afferent limb of the immune response; and antibodies and the afferent limb of the immune response. The text also describes the organ distribution of antigens; the functional anatomy of the lymphoid system; and the behavior patterns of lymphoid cells. The microscopic and electron microscopic distribution of antigen in lymphoid organs; the interaction of antigens with cells of the reticuloendothelial system; and the interaction of antigen with lymphoid cells are also considered. The book further tackles the role of antigen in immunological tolerance; antibody production and tolerance dissociated; and antigen and lymphoid cells.

Although a few books covering primarily serological aspects of human blood groups are available, it became clear to me in the course of my research that no compendium of the non-serological aspects of human blood group systems exists. This book has been written to facilitate access to the vast number of publications scattered throughout the literature in both chemical and medical journals on the chemistry, biochemistry, and molecular biology of blood groups. It is designed as a concise survey for use by blood bankers and researchers in biochemistry, blood group serology, immunohaemotology, forensic medicine, population genetics, and anthropology; the text is supplemented by numerous illustrations and tables. This volume encompasses the entire field of blood group serology and provides a comprehensive survey of present knowledge in the field. The serological aspects have been kept to a minimum. I have emphasised the chemical, biochemical and molecular genetic basis of blood group specificity and given full consideration to molecular biology investigations, in particular to those on the structure of blood group genes and the structural basis of alleles and rare blood group variants. The book covers the latest developments in research and discusses literature up to the beginning of 1995.

Zoologists have categorized primates into a single order, and no one doubts today that they share a common ancestry. Humans and Old and New World non human primate species, from the lemurs of Madagascar to the African anthro poid apes, represent diverging branches of an evolutionary common trunk. Along with species-specific characters, all primates have retained a number of ancestral traits, relics of their common origin. The comparative study of these species-specific and ancestral traits makes it possible to reconstruct the evolu tionary pathways of humans and nonhuman primates. The discovery of the human blood groups and, later, of the Major Histocom patibility Complex (MHC) had a seminal effect on the field of human genetics, providing the first sound examples of mendel ian polymorphisms. The use of blood group and MHC alleles as genetic markers in biological anthropology gen erated a conceptual revolution and persuaded researchers to begin to think in terms of populations and not only intems of typology. The counterparts of these human red and white cell antigens were found and studied in nunhuman primates, and progress in this field is summarized in this book.