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Each antibody binds to a specific antigen in a highly specific interaction analogous to a lock and key.. An antibody (Ab) or immunoglobulin (Ig) is a large, Y-shaped protein belonging to the immunoglobulin superfamily which is used by the immune system to identify and neutralize antigens such as bacteria and viruses, including those that cause disease.
Antigen-antibody interaction, or antigen-antibody reaction, is a specific chemical interaction between antibodies produced by B cells of the white blood cells and antigens during immune reaction. The antigens and antibodies combine by a process called agglutination.
If an antibody binds to an antigen's epitope, the paratope could become the epitope for another antibody that will then bind to it. If this second antibody is of IgM class, its binding can upregulate the immune response; if the second antibody is of IgG class, its binding can downregulate the immune response. [citation needed]
An illustration that shows how antigens induce the immune system response by interacting with an antibody that matches the molecular structure of an antigen. In immunology, an antigen (Ag) is a molecule, moiety, foreign particulate matter, or an allergen, such as pollen, that can bind to a specific antibody or T-cell receptor. [1]
An antibody is made up of two heavy chains and two light chains. The unique variable region allows an antibody to recognize its matching antigen. [73] A B cell identifies pathogens when antibodies on its surface bind to a specific foreign antigen. [74] This antigen/antibody complex is taken up by the B cell and processed by proteolysis into ...
In contrast, the constant (C) regions only occur in a few variants, which define the antibody's class. Antibodies of different classes activate distinct effector mechanisms in response to an antigen (triggering different elements of the innate immune system). They appear at different stages of an immune response, differ in structural features ...
Mutations that allow viruses to evade a neutralizing antibody will be selected for, and hence prevail. Conversely, antibodies also simultaneously evolve by affinity maturation during the course of an immune response, thereby improving recognition of viral particles. Conserved parts of viral proteins that play a central role in viral function ...
Then the cell stops producing all other side chains and starts intensive synthesis and secretion of the antigen-binding side chain as a soluble antibody. Though distinct from clonal selection, Ehrlich's idea was a selection theory far more accurate than the instructive theories that dominated immunology in the next decades.