Antibody Determination against <i>Aspergillus fumigatus</i> by Means of the Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay

Abstract

Polystyrene-binding antigenic components (PBC) of Aspergillus fumigatus involved in ELISA IgG antibody determinations and the corresponding numbers of precipitates found by double immunodiffusion (DID) and/or crossed immunoelectrophoresis (CIE) were studied using culture filtrate antigenic preparations fractionated by Sephadex G-100 chromatography, concanavalin A (ConA) affinity chromatography, isoelectric focusing (IEF) and TCA precipitation. It is shown that PBC, immunologically active in ELISA, are characterized by high molecular weights and ConA-binding properties. The pi values of these components were 3.5–6 and above 8. The glycoprotein and/or mucocpolysaccharide nature is suggested by the binding to ConA and their partial resistance to trichloroacetic acid treatment. By contrast, low-molecular weight components and antigenic components that are not absorbed by ConA being active in DID and/or CIE showed less or absence of binding to the polystyrene surface.