what is the main function of an antibody?
to bind to a microorganism to facilitate their destruction/ejection
What is an antigen?
a molecule recognized by the adaptive immune response
what is an immunogen?
a subset of antigens that elicit an immune response
what is an allergin
a subset of antigens that elicit an allergic response
What is an epitope?
specific portion of an antigen that is contacted with an antibody
what is a multivalent antigen?
an antigen that contains more than one epitope or more than one copy of an epitope
what is affinity?
the strength of binding of a single molecule
what is avidity?
the total binding strength of all non-covalent interactions
what are chimeric antibodies?
constant region from mouse mAb replaced by human - ximab ( reduces immunogenicity)
what are humanized antibodies?
only the CDR loops are of mouse origin, less specificity.
- zumab
what are fully human antibodies?
made by immunizing mice in which mouse Ig genes are replaced by human ones (transgenic mice)
what is transcytosis?
endocytosis and transport to the outer layer of the cell where antibodies are released into the lumen of the organ
