title: Detecting the humoral alloimmune response: we need more than serum antibody screening.
abstract: Whereas many techniques exist to detect HLA antibodies in the sera of immunized individuals, assays to detect and quantify HLA-specific B cells are only just emerging. The need for such assays is becoming clear, as in some patients, HLA-specific memory B cells have been shown to be present in the absence of the accompanying serum HLA antibodies. Because HLA-specific B cells in the peripheral blood of immunized individuals are present at only a very low frequency, assays with high sensitivity are required. In this review, we discuss the currently available methods to detect and/or quantify HLA-specific B cells, as well as their promises and limitations. We also discuss scenarios in which quantification of HLA-specific B cells may be of additional value, besides classical serum HLA antibody detection.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Immunohaematology and Blood Transfusion, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Gonca E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Karahan
authors.forename: Frans H J
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Claas
authors.forename: Sebastiaan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Heidt
mesh_terms: D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D058501:Enzyme-Linked Immunospot Assay; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006680:HLA Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D056724:Immunity, Humoral; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D007518:Isoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation
chemical_list: D006680:HLA Antigens; D007518:Isoantibodies