Standard Abbreviations

2D, two-dimensional
3D, three-dimensional
2-ME, 2-mercaptoethanol

A

A, ampere
Å, angstrom
aa, amino acid(s)
AIDS, acquired immune deficiency syndrome
ANOVA, analysis of variance
APC, antigen-presenting cell
ATP, adenosine triphosphate
    (also ADP, AMP, CTP, UDP, etc.)
AU, arbitrary unit

B

bp, basepair
Bq, Becquerel
BrdU, 5-bromo-2'deoxyuridine
BSA, bovine serum albumin

C

C, complement
C region, constant region of Ig
cAMP, cyclic AMP
cDNA, complementary DNA
CFA, complete Freund's adjuvant
CFSE, carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester
CFU, colony-forming unit
Ci, curie
cM, centimorgan (but morgan)
CMV, cytomegalovirus
Con A, concanavalin A
cpm, counts per minute
CRISPR, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats
CSF, colony-stimulating factor
CTL, cytotoxic T lymphocyte

D

D/Da, dalton
   kD/kDa, kilodalton(s)
D region, diversity region of Ig or TCR
DAPI, 6'-diamidino-2-phenylindole
DMEM, Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium
dpm, disintegrations per minute
DMSO, dimethylsulfoxide
DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid
DNase, deoxyribonuclease
DNP, dinitrophenyl

E

EBV, Epstein-Barr virus
ED₅₀, 50% effective dose
EDTA, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid
EGTA, ethyleneglycol-bis (β-aminoethyl ether)- N, N, N',N'-tetraacetic acid
ELISA, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay
ELISPOT, enzyme-linked immunospot
ER, endoplasmic reticulum
ERK, extracellular signal–related kinase
E/T ratio, effector–target ratio

F

FACS, BD fluorescence-activated cell sorter
FBS, fetal bovine serum
FCS, fetal calf serum
FITC, fluorescein isothiocyanate
fMLP, formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine

G

g, gram
g, unit of gravity
GAPDH, glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase
GFP, green fluorescent protein
GM-CSF, granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor

H

h/hr, hour
H chain, heavy chain of Ig
HAT, hypoxanthine, aminopterin, thymidine
HBSS, Hanks' balanced salt solution
H&E, hematoxylin and eosin
Hepes/HEPES, N-2-hydroxyethylpiperazine-N'-2-ethane sulfonic acid
HIV, human immunodeficiency virus
HLA, human histocompatibility leukocyte antigens
HPLC, high performance liquid chromatography
HRP, horseradish peroxidase
HSV, herpes simplex virus
HTLV, human T lymphocyte virus
HUVEC, human umbilical vein endothelial cell

I

Id, idiotype
ID₅₀, 50% infective or inhibiting dose
IFA, incomplete Freund's adjuvant
IFN, interferon (e.g., IFN-γ)
Ig, immunoglobulin
IL, interleukin (e.g., IL-2)
i.m., intramuscular(ly)
i.n., intranasal(ly)
IMDM, Iscove's modified Dulbecco's medium
i.p., intraperitoneal(ly)
IU, international unit
i.v., intravenous(ly)

J

J region, joining region of Ig or TCR
JAK, Janus kinase
JNK, c-Jun NH₂-terminal kinase

K

kb, kilobase
KLH, keyhole limpet hemocyanin
KO, knockout

L

L, liter(s)
     but ml, milliliter9(s)
L chain, light chain of Ig
LAK, lymhokine-activated killer
LD₅₀, 50% lethal dose
LFA, lymphocyte function associated
LN, lymph node
LPS, lipopolysaccharide
LTR, long terminal repeat

M

m, meter
M, molar
mAb, monoclonal antibody
MAPK, mitogen-activated protein kinase
MEF, mouse embryonic fibroblast
MEM, minimum essential medium
MHC, major histocompatability complex
min, minute
MLR, mixed leukocyte reaction
Mls, minor lymphocyte stimulating
mo, month
mol, mole
mol wt, molecular weight
M_r, relative molecular mass

mRNA, messenger RNA

N

n, number in study or group
N, normal (concentration of ionizable groups)
ND, not determined
NFAT, nuclear factor of activated T cells
NF-κB, nuclear factor κB
NP-40, Nonidet P-40
NS/ns, not significant
nt, nucleotide

O

OD, optical density
osM, osmolar
osmol, osmole(s)
OVA, ovalbumin

P

PAGE, polyacrylamide
gel electrophoresis
PBS, phosphate-buffered saline
PCR, polymerase chain reaction
PE, phycoerythrin
PFU, plaque-forming unit
PHA, phytohemagglutinin
Pipes, piperazine-N, N'-bis(2-ethane sulfonic acid)
PMA, phorbol myristate acetate
PMSF, phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride

R

r, recombinant (e.g., rIFN-γ)
R, receptor (e.g, IL-2R)
RAG, recombination activating gene
RBC, red blood cell
RFP, red fluorescent protein
RNA, ribonucleic acid
RNase, ribonuclease
ROS, reactive oxygen species
RT, reverse transcription

S

s/sec, second
s, sedimentation coefficient
S, Svedberg unit of sedimentation coefficient
s.c., subcutaneous(ly)
SCID, severe combined immunodeficiency
SD, standard deviation
SDS, sodium dodecyl sulfate
SE, standard error
SEM, standard error of the mean
shRNA, short hairpin RNA
siRNA, small interfering RNA
STAT, signal transducer and activator
of transcription

T

t_1/2, half-life, half-time
TCA, trichloroacetic acid
TCR, T cell receptor for antigen
TdR, thymidine deoxyribose
(also, UdR, AdR, etc.)
TFA, trifluoroacetic acid
TGF, transforming growth factor
TLC, thin layer chromatography
TLR, toll-like receptor
TNF, tumor necrosis factor (α)
TNP, trinitrophenyl
Tris, tris (hydroxymethyl) aminomethane

U

U, unit
UV, ultraviolet

V

V, volt
V region, variable region of Ig
vol, volume

W

W, watt
wk, week
wt, weight
WT, wild-type

Y

YFP, yellow fluorescent protein