Word: immunoglobulin
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Hamburger based his work on earlier discoveries of how the immune system causes allergic reactions. Researchers had determined that Immunoglobulin E (IgE), a blood fraction involved in fighting off invasions by foreign substances, is often present in abnormally large amounts in allergy victims. The Y-shaped molecules join with allergens such as pollens and then lock onto special sites on the surfaces of the connective tissue structures known as mast cells, causing them to release histamines, which in turn trigger allergy symptoms...
...under-six-months baby, suggested Dr. Chanock, still has little or no immunoglobulin A to fight off RSV. So the virus gets to his bronchioles and lungs. There, it wreaks havoc by causing 50 or more cells to merge into giant combines. Oxygen exchange is so impaired that the baby has asthma-like spasms. To make matters worse, said Dr. Chanock, the G antibody circulating in the blood just below the lungs' surface actually combines with virus particles to form more damaging complexes...