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Encyclopedia of Medical Immunology pp 68–71Cite as

Analytes and Biomarkers: Precipitin Antibodies

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Synonyms

Double immunodiffusion; Ouchterlony

Definition

Precipitin is a reaction between an antibody and antigen that are distributed into separate wells in a gel, and they immunoprecipitate or produce a flocculate that is visible as a white precipitin line. Immune complexes form as they reach a point of equivalence at which the concentrations of antibody and antigen are optimal for producing maximal antigen–antibody cross-linking.

Introduction

In 1953, Ouchterlony published part of his thesis which described a method involving gels in which the addition of antigen and its respective antibody into separate wells caused them to diffuse toward each other (Ouchterlony 1953). As they reached a point called equivalence in which the concentrations of the antibody and antigen were optimal to maximize immune complex formation, a white flocculation occurred in the gel that could be seen by the naked eye as a white “precipitin” line. Ouchterlony originally used antigen from Corynebacterium...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine and Pathology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Johns Hopkins Dermatology, Allergy and Clinical Immunology Reference Laboratory; Johns Hopkins Asthma and Allergy Center, Baltimore, Maryland, 21224, USA

    Robert G. Hamilton

Authors
  1. Robert G. Hamilton
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert G. Hamilton .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia

    Ian R. Mackay

  2. Center for Autoimmune Disease Research, Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Noel R. Rose

  3. Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, Tampa, FL, USA

    Dennis K. Ledford

  4. Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, Tampa, FL, USA

    Richard F. Lockey

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© 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Hamilton, R.G. (2014). Analytes and Biomarkers: Precipitin Antibodies. In: Mackay, I.R., Rose, N.R., Ledford, D.K., Lockey, R.F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Medical Immunology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9194-1_288

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9194-1_288

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-9193-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-9194-1

  • eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine

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