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Immunology—Autoimmunity 691

autoimmune diseases such as SLE, immunofluorescence complex mixture of autoantigens that are coupled to dif-
(using whole cells as the antigenic substrate) is the ferent chromophores.
screening assay of choice. Apart from the use of cell cul-
ture lines rather than tissue sections, little change has been
made to the principle of this assay since the 1950s. Fluo- SEE ALSO THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES
rescence microscopy has seen several advances, including
confocal microscopy and digitalization of images (includ-
CELL DEATH (APOPTOSIS) • CHROMATIN STRUCTURE
ing deconvolution), which have seen considerable use in
AND MODIFICATION • MAMMALIAN CELL CULTURE •
basic research but have yet to see use in clinical screening MICROANALYTICAL ASSAYS • RIBOZYMES
of autoantibodies. During the last several decades all of
the methods described have undergone numerous modifi-
cations. Most early modifications sought to improve safety BIBLIOGRAPHY
by replacing the use of radioactive detecting reagents
(e.g., 125 I-labeled secondary antibody) with other meth-
Chan, E. K. L., and Pollard, K. M. (1997). Detection of autoantibodies to
ods of detection such as enzyme-catalyzed technologies.
ribonucleoproteinparticlesbyimmunoblotting.In“ManualofClinical
These same modifications also improved the sensitivity Laboratory Immunology,” 5th ed. (N. R. Rose, E. Conway de Macario,
and shortened the assay time by using colorimetric, fluo- J. D. Folds, H. C. Lane and R. M. Nakamura, eds.), pp. 928–934,
rescent, or luminescent reactions, which are more readily American Society for Microbiology Press, Washington, DC.
detected and quantified than radioactive decay. As yet, Coligan, J. E., Kruisbeek, A. M., Margulies, D. H., Shevach, E. M., and
Strober, W. (eds.) (2000). “Current Protocols in Immunology,” John
high-throughput assays have not been applied to autoan-
Wiley and Sons, New York.
tibody detection, primarily because of the difficulty in Krapf, A. R., von M¨uhlen, C. A., Krapf, F. E., Nakamura, R. M., and Tan,
screening an individual serum for the diverse spectrum of E. M. (1996). “Atlas of Immunofluorescent Autoantibodies,” Urban
known autoantibody specificities. However, the availabil- and Schwarzenberg, Munich.
ity of recombinant autoantigens and the increasing array Peter, J. B., and Shoenfeld, Y. (eds.). (1996). “Autoantibodies,” Elsevier,
Amsterdam.
of fluorescent or luminescent chromophores suggest that
Spector, D. L., Goldman, R. D., and Leinwand, L. A. (eds.) (1997).
it should be possible to design assays capable of detecting “Cells: A Laboratory Manual,” Cold Springs Harbor Laboratory Press,
and quantifying all autoantibodies in any serum using a Cold Springs Harbor, NY.