The Middlebrook-Dubos hemagglutination test with normal red cells and the Boyden hemagglutination test with red cells tanned with tannic acid were shown to be strictly specific, for tubercle polysaccharide and for the protein antigens. The former test detects polysaccharide antibodies and the latter protein antibodies. Convincing evidence is given that polysaccharide does not adhere to the surf...

For almost 20 years, the neutralizing-epitope site specific for influenza B virus Victoria group isolates was conserved at the "tip" of the hemagglutinin molecule; however, it was not detected in half of the isolates from the 2002-2003 epidemic in Japan. Amino acid substitutions (D164E or N165K) were observed at the "tip", and the epitope was altered. The viral antigenicities were affected, and...

Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease agent, binds glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) such as heparin, heparan sulfate, and dermatan sulfate. Heparin or heparan sulfate fractions separated by size or charge were tested for their ability to inhibit attachment of B. burgdorferi to Vero cells. GAG chains of increasing length and/or charge showed increasing inhibitory potency, and detectable heparin inhibi...