Antigen Anti body and Protein - (Apr/09/2008 )
Can some one explain me the link between them.
Antigens are used to stimulate the immune system..............
Antibodies bind with the protein.................
By injecting the protein inside the animal one can rase the antibody................
but why the antigen bnd with the antibody.......
Hi there,
the definitions are the following:
An antibody is a glycoprotein that is an integral part of the humoral immune system. There are millions of different antibodies in every individual, each with their own specificity, but their basic structure is the same.
An antigen is any molecule (protein, peptide, lipid, polysaccharide) capable of interacting with a specific antibody. Historically the name antigen came to be as an acronym of antibody generator. For this purpose we now use the term immunogen. Not every antigen is actually an immunogen. A classical example are haptens, which are small molecules, which are by themselves not capable of stimulating the immune system, but if the immune system has already been stimulated they are recognized by antibodies. So they are antigens but not immunogens.
Why antibodies bind to different antigens is the foundation of the immune system. What happens is that first the immune system makes billions of antibodies with different specificities and then selects the ones that bind to the immunogen but not to self molecules.
Hope it helps,
Miha
So it means our protein for which we want to have an antibody can be used as antigen.????
the definitions are the following:
An antibody is a glycoprotein that is an integral part of the humoral immune system. There are millions of different antibodies in every individual, each with their own specificity, but their basic structure is the same.
An antigen is any molecule (protein, peptide, lipid, polysaccharide) capable of interacting with a specific antibody. Historically the name antigen came to be as an acronym of antibody generator. For this purpose we now use the term immunogen. Not every antigen is actually an immunogen. A classical example are haptens, which are small molecules, which are by themselves not capable of stimulating the immune system, but if the immune system has already been stimulated they are recognized by antibodies. So they are antigens but not immunogens.
Why antibodies bind to different antigens is the foundation of the immune system. What happens is that first the immune system makes billions of antibodies with different specificities and then selects the ones that bind to the immunogen but not to self molecules.
Hope it helps,
Miha
most likely, yes.