Antibodies Flashcards
Remember the structure of an antibody
B
What form the antigen-binding site?
The variable regions of the antibody
What is the shape of the variable region complimentary to?
A particular antigen
What do the variable regions differ between?
Antibodies
What does the hinge region allow?
It allows flexibility when the antibody binds to the antigen
What does the constant regions allow?
The binding to reception on immune system cells, e.g. Phagocytes.
What do the disulphides bridges do?
Hold the polypeptide chains of the protein tigers he
How many binding site to agglutination pathogens have?
They have two binding sites, so an antibody can bind to two pathogens at the same time - the pathogens become clumped together.
What bind to the antibody of the agglutination pathogen?
Phagocytes then bind to the antibodies and phagocytise a lot of pathogens all at once. Antibodies that behave in this way are known as agglutinins.
What kind of shape do toxins have?
Different shape
What do the antibodies called anti-toxins bind to?
To the toxins produced by pathogens which prevents the toxins from affecting human cells, so the toxins are neutralised (inactivated).
The toxin-abot body complexes are also phagocytosed.
What may happen when antibodies bind to the antigens on pathogens?
They may block the cell - surface receptors that the pathogens need to bind to the host cells which means the pathogen can’t attach to or infect the host cells.
What are antibodies?
They are proteins - made up of chain of amino acid monomers linked by peptide bonds
