Basic Exercises in Immunochemistry

Book excerpt: This book intends to be neither a complete survey of the field nor an exhaustive source of references. For these purposes, the use of the extensive compilation "Experimental Immunochemistry" by E. A. KABAT and M. M. MAYER (1962) or the excellent methodological textbook, "Methods in Immunology", by D. H. CAMPBELL, J. S. GARVEY, E. E. CREMER and D. H. SUSSDORF (1963), or the quite comprehensive series "Methods in Immunology and Immunochemistry" by C. A. WILLIAMS and M. W. CHASE (1967) are more suitable. The main purpose of this manual ist to provide students with a simple book which will introduce them to some frequently occurring problems in the three major sections of the immunochemistry of natural products. These are the isolation of the materials, the chemical analysis of the constituents and their structure, and, finally, the assays of the most important biological and immunological activities. In this manual the exercises are simplified and several shortcuts are taken in order to fit them into the framework of a teaching course. The introduction to each exercise gives a brief and elementary explanation of the reaction on which it is based. "Materials and Equipment" lists all tissues or cells, chemicals, glassware, and special equipment which must be available to carry out the exercise, although the very common laboratory tools are usually omitted from the list.