Interleukin-4 induzierendes Prinzip von Schistosoma mansoni Eiern (IPSE): Klassisches Antigen oder Superantigen?

IPSE is an antigen of schistosoma mansoni, a helminth that can be found in tropical areas. IPSE causes mastcell degranulation without cross linking of IgE. The aim of this dissertation was to determine if IPSE binds to antibodies as a classical or a superantigen. Therefore we used mice with restricted antibody repertoire. The mice were limited in their ability to use any amino acid in the CDR-H3 region, which is the most important part of the classical antigen-binding site. We analyzed the B-lymphocytes of wildtype and two limited types of mice in FACS and the antibodies in ELISA. The expectation was, that differences in the ability to bind IPSE between the different types of mice would appear if IPSE was an classical antigen. If IPSE was a superantigen, there would be no differences to be found. As we did not find any differences, we concluded that IPSE is a superantigen.