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Lymphocytes retain a "memory" of virus infections and produce many special molecules called antibodies. These antibodies attach to viruses and stop the virus from infecting cells. Antibodies are highly selective and attack only one type of virus. The body makes many different antibodies, especially during the initial infection.
An antibody can be called monospecific if it has specificity for a single antigen or epitope, [74] or bispecific if it has affinity for two different antigens or two different epitopes on the same antigen. [75] A group of antibodies can be called polyvalent (or unspecific) if they have affinity for various antigens [76] or microorganisms. [76]
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 addition to the formed antibodies in the body there remains a small number of memory T and B cells that make up the cellular component of the immunological memory. They stay in blood circulation in a resting state and at the subsequent encounter with the same antigen these cells are able to respond immediately and eliminate the antigen.
Antigenicity is the capacity of a chemical structure (either an antigen or hapten) to bind specifically with a group of certain products that have adaptive immunity: T cell receptors or antibodies (a.k.a. B cell receptors). Antigenicity was more commonly used in the past to refer to what is now known as immunogenicity, and the two terms are ...
The markers on the pathogen that the antibodies target are called antigens. [48] Traditional vaccines stimulate an antibody response by injecting either antigens, an attenuated (weakened) virus, an inactivated (dead) virus, or a recombinant antigen-encoding viral vector (harmless carrier virus with an antigen transgene) into the body. These ...
Antibodies are synthesized and secreted by plasma cells that are derived from the B cells of the immune system. An antibody is used by the acquired immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects like bacteria and viruses. Each antibody recognizes a specific antigen unique to its target.
Antibodies can continue to be an effective defence mechanism even after viruses have managed to gain entry to the host cell. A protein that is in cells, called TRIM21, can attach to the antibodies on the surface of the virus particle.