Genetic immunization, process

Biogenic polyamines are long linear chains composed of 3 or more amino groups interconnected by methylene bridges (CH2)n where n typically is 3-5. Spermine is a quintessential example, isolated as its crystalline phosphate salt from human sperm by Anton van Leeuwenhoek in 1678. Spermine, and its bio-genetic precursor spermidine, occur in almost all tissues and they play a major role in the modulation of calcium-dependent immune processes and in cell differentiation and proliferation. The discovery that polyamines are structural components of potent spider neurotoxins has lent a certain frisson to their synthesis and it has elevated one of the dullest groups of natural compounds an aura of interest. 

Development of models to assess chemical-induced allergic or autoimmune reactions is difficult in that both types of reactions are subject to complex processes, and are idiosyncratic in nature. Factors that must be considered include a large number of genetic as well as phenotypic, neuroendocrine, or environmental factors that are only in part related to the immune system. 

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