20.1

Question 1

antibody specificty

Answer 1

regions of the antibody that have unique patterns of amino acids that can only bind to target antigens with a molecular sequence.

Question 2

cross-reactivity

Answer 2

antibodies raised against one antigen bind to a chemically similar but different antigen.

Question 3

affinity

Answer 3

a measure of the binding strength between an antibody binding site and an epitope

Question 4

avidity

Answer 4

the total strength of all the interactions in an antibody-antigen complex.

Question 5

antiserum

Answer 5

serum collected from an animal following eposure to an antigen.

Question 6

second injection

Answer 6

will activate memory cells that make class IgG antibodies against the antigen

Question 6

affinity maturation

Answer 6

results in a pool of antibodies with higher average affinity. occurs because of mutations in the immunoglobulin gene variable regions, resulting in B cells with slightly altered antigen binding sites.

Question 7

adjuvant

Answer 7

a chemical that provokes a generalized activation of the immune system that stimulates greater antibody production, is mixed with the antigen

Question 8

polyclonal antisera

Answer 8

used in clinical tests to determine if a patient is producing antibodies in response to a particular pathogen. indirect means of determining if a pathogen is present.

Question 9

false-positive

Answer 9

a test that confirms the presence of an antigen that is not there

Question 10

false-negative

Answer 10

a test that confirms that no antibodies are prsent

Question 11

test sensitivity

Answer 11

the probability of getting a positive test result when the patient is infected

Question 12

test specificity

Answer 12

the probability of getting a negative test result when the patient is not infected.

Question 13

monoclonal antibodies

Answer 13

high specificity that can be attained by binding antibodies with high affinity to a single epitope. can be produced by immunizing an animal multiples times with a specific antigen.

Question 14

hybridoma cells

Answer 14

myeloma (cancerous b cells) fused with normal B cells.

Question 15

humanized monoclonal antibodies

Answer 15

genetically altered antibodies.

Question 16

plantibodies

Answer 16

genetically engineered plants

Question 17

precipitin

Answer 17

visible antigen-antibody complex

Question 18

precipitin ring test

Answer 18

used to determine the relative amount of antigen-specific antibody in a sample of serum.

Question 19

titer

Answer 19

the highest dilution with a visible ring. the reciprocal of the highest dilution showing a positive result is expressed as a whole number

Question 20

double immunodiffusion or Ouchterlony assay

Answer 20

holes punched into agar to form cells. then antigen and antisera are added, proteins diffuse and the precipitin arcs form in the agar. Determines if an antiserum has antibodies against a particular antigen.

Question 21

radial immunidiffusion

Answer 21

quantify antigen concentration rather than compare different antigens.

Question 22

flocculant assay

Answer 22

flocculation (foaming) is observed in the test tube fluid

Question 23

neutralization assay

Answer 23

when antiviral antibodies neutralize infections by coating the virions and blocking the binding

Question 24

immunoelectrophoresis

Answer 24

used to study abnormal protein electrophoresis