Glossary Ch 2

Question 1

Adjuvent

Answer 1

A substance administered with an immunogen that enhances and potentiates the immune response

Question 2

Alleles

Answer 2

An alternate form of a gene that codes for a slightly different form of the same product

Question 3

Alloantigens

Answer 3

An antigen that is found in another member of the host’s species and that is capable of eliciting an immune response in the host

Question 4

Antigen

Answer 4

Macromolecule that is capable of eliciting formation of immunoglobulins (antibodies) or sensitized cells in an immunocompetent host

Question 5

Antigen presentation

Answer 5

The process by which degraded peptides within cells are transported to the plasma membrane with MHC molecules so T cells can then recognize them

Question 6

Autoantgens

Answer 6

An antigen that belongs to the host and is not capable of eliciting an immune response under normal circumstances

Question 7

Class I MHC (HLA) molecules

Answer 7

Proteins coded for by genes at three loci (A, B, C) in the major histocompatibility complex; they are expressed on all nucleated cells and are important to consider in the transplantation of tissues

Question 8

Class II MHC (HLA) molecules

Answer 8

Proteins coded for by the DR, DP, and DQ loci of the major histocompatibility complex; they are found on B cells, macrophages, activated T cells, monocytes, dendritic cells, and endothelium, and are important to consider in the transplantation of tissues

Question 9

Conformational epitope

Answer 9

Key antigenic site that results from the folding of one chain or multiple chains, bringing certain amino acids from different segments of a linear sequence or sequences into close proximity with each other so they can be recognized together

Question 10

Epitope

Answer 10

The key portion of the immunogen against which the immune response is directed; also known as the determinant site

Question 11

Haplotype

Answer 11

A set of genes that are located close together on a chromosome and are usually inherited as a single unit

Question 12

Haptens

Answer 12

A simple chemical group that can bind to antibody once it is formed but that cannot stimulate antibody formation unless tied to a larger carrier molecule

Question 13

Heteroantigens

Answer 13

An antigen of a species different from that of the host, such as other animals, plants, or microorganisms

Question 14

Heterophile antigens

Answer 14

An antigen that exists in unrelated plants or animals but is either identical or closely related, so that antibody to one will cross -react with antibody to the other

Question 15

Immunogenicity

Answer 15

The ability of an immunogen to stimulate a host response

Question 16

Immunogens

Answer 16

Any substance that is capable of inducing an immune response

Question 17

Invariant chain (Ii)

Answer 17

A protein that associates with HLA class II antigens shortly after they are synthesized to prevent interaction of their binding sites with any endogenous peptides in the endoplasmic reticulum

Question 18

Linear epitopes

Answer 18

Amino acids following one another on a single chain that act as a key antigenic site

Question 19

Major histocompatability complex (MHC)

Answer 19

The genes that control expression of a large group of proteins originally identified on leukocytes but now known to be found on all nucleated cells in the body; these proteins regulate the immune response and play a role in graft rejection

Question 20

Transporters associated with antigen processing (TAP1 and TAP2)

Answer 20

Proteins that are responsible for the ATP-dependent transport of newly synthesized short peptides from the cytoplasm to the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum for binding to class I HLA antigens