Antigen - Antibody Reaction (M) Flashcards
(158 cards)
What are the diff general features of Ag - Ab rxn?
1) Physiochemical Properties
2) Affinity
3) Avidity
4) Specificity
5) Cross - Reactivity
6) Binding sites of Ag - Ab rxn
What are the characteristics of Physiochemical Properties?
1) Non-covalent
2) Reversible
How are Physiochemical Properties formed?
These are formed by a combination of hydrogen bonds, hydrophobic interactions, electrostatic, and van der Waals forces
What does “good fit” mean (or what is its purpose | in terms of Physiochemical Properties)?
The “good fit” bet an antigenic determinant and an Ab-combining site determines the stability of the Ag - Ab rxn
Multiple bonding of Ag and Ab ensures what (in terms of Physiochemical Properties)?
It ensures that the Ag will be bound tightly to the Abs
What is affinity?
It is the intensity of attraction bet Ag and Ab
What are the actions of affinity?
1) It measures the strength of interaction bet an epitope and an Ab’s Ag binding site
2) It describes how much Ab - Ag complex exists at the point when equilibrium is reached
What are the 2 types of affinity Abs?
1) Low-affinity Abs
2) High-affinity Abs
What are the actions of low-affinity Abs?
These bind Ag weakly and tend to dissociate readily
What are the actions of high-affinity Abs?
1) These bind Ag more tightly and remain bound longer
2) Bind a greater amt of Ag in a shorter period of time than low-affinity Abs
In high-affinity Abs, there is a very close fit bet what?
There is a very close fit bet the Ag-binding sites and the corresponding antigenic determinants
In the case of monoclonal Abs, how can the affinity be measured?
The affinity can be measured accurately because they are homogenous and selective for a single epitope
What are the characteristics of polyclonal Abs?
1) They are heterogenous
2) They are heterogenous, hence, they contain a mixture of Abs of diff affinities recognizing several epitopes
True or False.
Only an average affinity can be determined (in polyclonal Abs)
True, because Abs having diff affinities recognize several epitopes
What are the factors that influence affinity?
1) pH
2) Temperature
3) Buffer consumption
What is avidity?
1) It is the measure of the overall strength binding bet multivalent Ags and Abs
2) It is a better indicator of the strength of interactions in real biological systems than affinity
The avidity of an Ag - Ab rxn is dependent on what?
1) Affinity of the Ab for the epitope
2) Valency (# of binding site) of both the Ab and Ag
3) Structural arrangement of the parts that interact - stability
What is valency?
It is the # of binding site
What is specificity?
It refers to the ability of an individual Ab combining site to react w/ only 1 antigenic determinant or the ability of a population of Ab molecules to react w/ only 1 Ag
True or False.
Ag - Ab rxns does not usually show a high degree of specificity
False, because Ag - Ab rxns usually show a high degree of specificity
Abs can specifically recognize differences in what?
1) Primary structure of an Ag
2) Isomeric forms of an Ag
3) Secondary and tertiary structure of an Ag
When does cross-reactivity occur?
It occurs if 2 diff Ags share an identical or very similar epitope configuration
True or False.
The Ab’s affinity for the cross-reacting epitope is usually less than for the original epitope
True
Does antisera containing polyclonal Abs often found to cross-react w/ immunogens?
Yes, antisera containing polyclonal Abs can often be found to cross-react w/ immunogens partially related to those used for immunization, due to the existence of epitopes w/ similar configurations