Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME, Forckenbeckstrasse 6, 52074 Aachen, Germany.
Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME, Forckenbeckstrasse 6, 52074 Aachen, Germany; Justus-Liebig University Giessen, Institute for Phytopathology and Applied Zoology, Phytopathology Department, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26-32, 35392 Giessen, Germany.
Biotechnol Adv. 2018 Jul-Aug;36(4):1167-1184. doi: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2018.03.016. Epub 2018 Mar 30.
Aspergillus is a fungal genus comprising several hundred species, many of which can damage the health of plants, animals and humans by direct infection and/or due to the production of toxic secondary metabolites known as mycotoxins. Aspergillus-specific antibodies have been generated against polypeptides, polysaccharides and secondary metabolites found in the cell wall or secretions, and these can be used to detect and monitor infections or to quantify mycotoxin contamination in food and feed. However, most Aspergillus-specific antibodies are generated against heterogeneous antigen preparations and the specific target remains unknown. Target identification is important because this can help to characterize fungal morphology, confirm host penetration by opportunistic pathogens, detect specific disease-related biomarkers, identify new candidate targets for antifungal drug design, and qualify antibodies for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. In this review, we discuss how antibodies are raised against heterogeneous Aspergillus antigen preparations and how they can be characterized, focusing on strategies to identify their specific antigens and epitopes. We also discuss the therapeutic, diagnostic and biotechnological applications of Aspergillus-specific antibodies.
曲霉菌是一个真菌属，包含几百个种，其中许多种可以通过直接感染和/或由于产生被称为霉菌毒素的有毒次生代谢物而损害植物、动物和人类的健康。已经针对细胞壁或分泌物中发现的多肽、多糖和次生代谢物产生了曲霉菌特异性抗体，这些抗体可用于检测和监测感染，或定量检测食品和饲料中的霉菌毒素污染。然而，大多数曲霉菌特异性抗体是针对异质抗原制剂产生的，具体的靶标仍然未知。靶标鉴定很重要，因为这有助于表征真菌形态，确认机会性病原体对宿主的穿透，检测特定疾病相关的生物标志物，确定抗真菌药物设计的新候选靶标，并使抗体有资格用于诊断和治疗应用。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了如何针对异质的曲霉菌抗原制剂产生抗体，以及如何对其进行表征，重点讨论了鉴定其特定抗原和表位的策略。我们还讨论了曲霉菌特异性抗体的治疗、诊断和生物技术应用。
