Celebrating More Than a Century of Research on Antibodies: Affirmation Through Negation via Complex Formation

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Neil S. Greenspan

Abstract

In this brief commentary, I highlight the remarkable properties of antibodies (also known as immunoglobulins) revealed by more than 100 years of biomedical research. Since antibodies can be elicited through one or another means against almost any molecule or macromolecule, the universe of antibodies represents a sort of molecular mirror for the universe of molecules that make life possible. Consequently, as recounted below, antibodies play a role in almost every aspect of medicine and biomedical research.

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Commentaries
Author Biography

Neil S. Greenspan, Professor of Pathology at Case and the Director of the Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Laboratory at University Hospitals Case Medical Center

Dr. Neil Greenspan received his A.B., magna cum laude, in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard College in 1975. He then earned M.D. and Ph.D. (Immunology) degrees at the University of Pennsylvania. From 1981 until 1986, Dr. Greenspan was a Resident in Laboratory Medicine (Clinical Pathology) at Barnes Hospital, and from 1982-1985 he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Molecular Immunology at Washington University, both in St. Louis. In 1986, Dr. Greenspan became a faculty member at the Case School of Medicine. He is currently Professor of Pathology at Case and the Director of the Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Laboratory at University Hospitals Case Medical Center.

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