Exam II - Antibodies Flashcards
Which types of cells produce antibodies?
Plasma cells
What type of globulins are Ab?
Gamma globulins
During which phase of the immune response are Ab produced?
recognition phase and effector phase
What class of Ab has the least carbohydrate?
IgG
How many heavy & light chains make up an Ab?
one heavy chain, one light chain
How many C and V regions does the light chain possess?
1 C region, 1 V region
How many C & V regions does the heavy chain possess?
3 C region, 1 V region
Where is the hinge region located?
On the heavy chain between the CH1 and CH2 regions
Which Abs do not possess hinge regions?
IgM and IgE
What is the bifunctional nature of Ab?
Antigen recognition and effector functions are spatially separate from each other
Where does papain cleave an Ab?
Which fragments remain?
Papain cleaves IgG above the -S-S bond at the hinge region
2 Fab segments and 1 Fc segment
Where does pepsin cleave an Ab?
Which fragments remain?
Pepsin cleaves below the -S-S bond at the hinge region, so the interchain disulfide bonds are retained in the F(ab’)2 molecule, though the Fc fragment is degraded
Define hypervariable region
the hypervariable regions are sites within the V light and heavy regoins where the amino acid sequences are highly variable
hypervariable regions are also known as:
Complementarity-determining regions (CDR)
Which CDR is the most variable?
CDR3 of the variable regions on heavy & light chains
What is Ag-Ab binding characterized by?
non-covalent, reversible binding
Define avidity
the strength of the binding between one Fab fragment of Ab and an epitope of an antigen