Immunochemistry

immunochemistry [¦im·yə·nō′kem·ə·strē]

(immunology)

A branch of science dealing with the chemical changes associated with immunity factors.

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Immunochemistry

A discipline concerned both with the structure of antibody (immunoglobulin) molecules and with their ability to bind an apparently limitless number of diverse chemical structures (antigens); with the structure, organization, and rearrangement of the genes coding for the immunoglobulin molecules; and with the structure and function of molecules on the surface of animal cells, such as the transplantation (histocompatibility) antigens, which recognize antibodies and the thymus-derived lymphocytes mediating the cellular immune response. See Antigen, Immunoassay, Immunoglobulin, Radioimmunoassay, Transplantation biology

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Immunochemistry 

a branch of immunology that studies the chemical foundations of immunity. The principal problems of immunochemistry are the study of the structure and properties of immune proteins—antibodies—and natural and synthetic antigens, as well as the elucidation of the laws governing the interactions between these principal components of immunological reactions in various organisms. Immunochemical methods also find practical application, especially during the separation and purification of the active principles of vaccines and serums.

REFERENCES

Boyd, W. C. Vvedenie v immunokhimicheskuiu spetsifichnost’. Moscow, 1963. (Translated from English.)
Immunokhimicheskii analiz. Edited by L. A. Zil’ber. Moscow, 1968.
Kabat, E., and M. Mayer. Eksperimental’naia immunokhimiia. Moscow, 1968. (Translated from English).