Antigenic determinants or Epitopes
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ANTIGENIC DETERMINATS OR EPITOPES
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An antigen will evoke immune response in a specific host.
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The antigenic specificity is determined by Epitopes, the smallest unit of antigenicity.
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Epitopes are some specific areas or chemical groupings with steric (spatial) configuration present on the surface of antigen molecule.
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Epitopes are capable of sensitizing an immunocyte and reacting with its complementary site on the specific antibody or TCR.
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The combining area on the hypervariable region of antibody molecule that corresponds to epitopes is called paratope or idiotope. On T cells the recognition site is termed as Agretope.
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Epitopes and paratope determined the specificity of immunological reaction.
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Epitopes are also called antigenic determinants.
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Most epitopes haveĀ 6 to10 amino acids (T cell epitopes) or 10-15 amino acids (B-cell epitopes )
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Last modified: Friday, 23 September 2011, 10:28 AM