The accurate characterization of antibodies (IgEs) in individuals exposed to allergens such as peanuts can provide insight into the clinical manifestation of an allergic response and also reveal the fundamental immunobiology involved. However, the measurement of IgEs to specific epitopes (the specific piece of the antigen to which an antibody binds) in serum has been a major challenge so far.

Mark Wayne Peczuh, University of Connecticut, Storrs, USA, and colleagues have developed a method that first captures IgEs from serum by using anti-IgE decorated magnetic nanoparticles, then measures IgEs binding to specific epitopes from allergen proteins using an arrayed surface plasmon resonance (SPR) imaging (pictured).

The technique was used to catalog anti-peanut IgEs in a set of patient samples and showed excellent correlation with clinical diagnostics.

• Epitope Resolved Detection of Peanut Specific IgE Antibodies by SPR Imaging,
  Min Shen, Amit Joshi, Raghu Vannam, Chandra Dixit, Robert Hamilton, Challa V Kumar, James F Rusling, Mark Wayne Peczuh,
  ChemBioChem 2017.
  https://doi.org/10.1002/cbic.201700513