Antibody formation and follicular immune complexes : experimental and clinical analysis In Situ

Abstract

The aim of the studies presented in this thesis was to investigate the formation of epitope-specific antibody and the mechanisms involved in the localization of resulting antigen-antibody immune complexes in lymphoid follicles. These issues were addressed both in experimental animals and in clinical material. HIV-1 (human immunodeficiency virus type 1) was studied as an infectious pathogen because of its lymphotropic nature, tts histopathological effects on the lymphoid microenvironment, and because of the urgent need for HIV-1 specific antibodies for research purposes and a better understanding of the HIV-1 specific antibody response