Antibody

Definition

An antibody (Ab), or immunoglobulin (Ig), is a large protein belonging to the immunoglobulin superfamily which is used by the immune system to identify and neutralize antigens such as those that exist on bacteria and virus cells, including those that cause disease. Each individual antibody recognizes one or more specific antigens, and antigens of virtually any size and chemical composition can be recognized. Each of the branching chains comprising the "Y" of an antibody contains a paratope that specifically binds to one particular epitope on an antigen, allowing the two molecules to bind together with precision. Using this mechanism, antibodies can effectively "tag" the antigen for attack by cells of the immune system, or can neutralize it directly.

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11S globulin family 7S seed storage protein Acute toxicity Adaptive immune system Adjuvant Affimer Affinity (pharmacology)Affinity chromatography Affinity maturation Agglutination (biology)Albumin Alcoholic liver disease Allelic exclusion Allergen Allergic Allergy Alloimmunity Allotype (immunology)Almroth Wright Alpha-2-Macroglobulin Alpha-lactalbumin Alpha 1-antichymotrypsin Alpha 1-antitrypsin Alpha 2-antiplasmin Alpha globulin Amino acid Angel of the West Angiostatin Antenatal Anti-Jo1 Anti-SSA/Ro autoantibodies Anti-actin antibodies Anti-apolipoprotein antibodies Anti-cardiolipin antibodies Anti-centromere antibodies Anti-dsDNA Anti-ganglioside antibodies Anti-gliadin antibodies Anti-glomerular basement membrane antibody Anti-glutamate receptor antibodies Anti-glycoprotein-210 antibodies Anti-histone antibodies Anti-mitochondrial antibodies Anti-mitochondrial antibody Anti-nRNP Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody Anti-nuclear antibodies Anti-nuclear antibody Anti-p62 antibodies Anti-smooth muscle antibody Anti-sp100 antibodies Anti-thrombin antibodies Anti-thyroid peroxidase antibody Anti-topoisomerase antibodies Anti-transglutaminase antibodies Antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity Antibody (disambiguation)Antibody mimetic Antigen Antigen-antibody complex Antigen-presenting cell Antigen presentation Antigenic variation Antimicrobial Antiphospholipid syndrome Antiserum Antithrombin Antitoxin Anti–citrullinated protein antibody Apoptosis Aptamer Assay Asthma Astrid Fagraeus Autoantibody Autoimmune disorder Autoimmunity Avidin Avidity B-cell receptor B cell Bacteria Bacterial cell wall Basophil Bence-Jones protein Beta-2 microglobulin Beta-lactoglobulin Beta globulins Beta sheet Bioinformatics Biological Biological immortality Biological process Biopharmaceutical Biotechnology Bird Blood group Blood plasma Blood proteins Blood serum Blood test Blood transfusion Blood typing Bovine serum albumin Breast cancer C-ANCA C-reactive protein C1q CDNA Camelids Cancer Carrier protein Cartilaginous fish Cell-mediated immunity Cell (biology)Cell division Cell lysate Cell membrane Cell signaling Cellular differentiation Central tolerance Ceruloplasmin Chemical affinity Chemotaxis Chicken Childbirth Chondrichthyes Chromatography Chromosome 14 Chromosome 2 Chromosome 22 Chronic toxicity Classical complement pathway Clinical immunology Clonal anergy Clonal deletion Clonal selection Cloning Cluster of differentiation Co-stimulation Coeliac disease Colorectal cancer Colostrum Complement cascade Complement membrane attack complex Complement system Complementarity-determining region Conalbumin Conformational epitope Coombs test Coulomb's law Cross-reactivity Cytokine Cytolysin Cytoplasm Cytoskeleton Cytotoxic Cytotoxic T cell DNA Dalton (unit)De novo sequencing Degranulation Dendritic cell Dilution cloning Diphtheria Disulfide bond Downregulate ELISA ELISpot Edestin Edman degradation Effector cell Efficiency Egg white Egg yolk Elasmobranchii Electrophoresis Elsevier Emil von Behring Enzyme Epitope Epstein–Barr virus Eukaryote Exon Extracellular Extracellular matrix protein 1 Extractable nuclear antigen FORCE11 Fab region Factor H Faculty of 1000 Fc receptor Fc region FcεRI Fetal fibronectin Fetus Fibronectin Flow cytometry Fluorescein isothiocyanate Fluoride Fluorine-18 Fragment antigen-binding Fragment crystallizable region Fungus Fv region Galactose Gamma Gamma globulin Gene Genome Genome sequence Gerald Edelman Germinal center Germline Globular protein Globulin Glycans Glycoprotein Glycosylation Goat Gut (zoology)Hapten Haptoglobin Head and neck cancer Heavy-chain antibody Helper T cell Hemagglutination Hemolytic anemia Hemolytic disease of the newborn Hemopexin Henry Bence Jones Heparin cofactor II Heterodimer Hexamer Histamine History of immunology Homology (biology)Horse House dust mite Human chorionic gonadotropin Human leukocyte antigen Human serum albumin Humoral immune system Humoral immunity Hybridoma Hydrogen bond Hydrophobic interactions Hypersensitivity Hypogammaglobulinemia IGH@IGHM IGK@IGL@IGLL1 Idiotype IgA IgD IgE IgG IgM Image resolution Immune complex Immune network theory Immune privilege Immune response Immune system Immune tolerance Immune tolerance in pregnancy Immunity (medical)Immunodeficiency Immunodiffusion Immunoelectrophoresis Immunofluorescence Immunogen Immunogenetics Immunoglobulin A Immunoglobulin D Immunoglobulin E Immunoglobulin G Immunoglobulin M Immunoglobulin Y Immunoglobulin class switching Immunoglobulin domain Immunoglobulin fold Immunoglobulin heavy chain Immunoglobulin light chain Immunoglobulin superfamily Immunohistochemistry Immunological Immunological memory Immunology Immunoprecipitation Immunosuppressive drug Impurities In vitro In vivo Inflammation Intracellular Intravenous immunoglobulin Iota Isotype (immunology)Jawed fish John Marrack Julian Voss-Andreae Junctional diversity Kappa Kimishige Ishizaka Kitasato Shibasaburō LAIR1 LSm Lactalbumin Lactoferrin Lambda Leonardo da Vinci Ligand (biochemistry)Linear epitope Linus Pauling Liver Locus (genetics)Lupus anticoagulant Lyme disease Lymph node Lymphocyte Lysis Macroglobulin Macrophage Macrophages Magnetic immunoassay Major histocompatibility complex Malaria Mammal Mast cell Maxwell Wintrobe Measurement unit Medical diagnosis Membrane attack complex Memory B cell Michael Heidelberger Microantibody Microbe Microglobulin Microscope Microtubule Mimotope Monoclonal antibodies Monoclonal antibody Monoclonal antibody therapy Monomer Mouse Mucosal Mucosal Immunology (journal)Multiple myeloma Multiple sclerosis Murinae N-terminus Naive B cell Nanometre Natural killer cell Neonatal Fc receptor Neonatal fragment crystallizable receptor Nephelometry Neutralisation (immunology)Neutralizing antibody Neutrophil Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma Non-homologous end joining Nucleotide Opsonin Opsonization Optimer Ligand Organ xenotransplantation Orosomucoid Oswald Avery Ovalbumin P-ANCA PRDM1 Parasitic worm Paratope Parvalbumin Passive immunity Passive immunization Pathogen Pathogenic bacteria Paul Ehrlich Pentamer Peptides Peripheral tolerance Phagocyte Phagocytosis Pharmacodynamics Pharmacokinetics Pharmacology Phases of clinical research Physical chemistry Placenta Placental mammal Plasma cell Plasmin Plasmodium falciparum Point mutation Polyclonal B cell response Polyclonal antibodies Polypeptide chain Polysaccharide Positron emission tomography Pre-pre B cell Precipitation (chemistry)Preclinical Pregnancy Prenatal Prenatal care Primary biliary cirrhosis Properdin Protein Protein A/G Protein Data Bank Protein dimer Protein domain Protein engineering Protein sequence Protein sequences Protein structure Proteins Psoriasis RRIDs Rabbit Rat Recombination-activating gene Red blood cell Reptile Respiratory tract Retinol binding protein Retrovirus Rh disease Rh factor Rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid factor Rho(D) immune globulin Ricin Rodney Porter ScFv Secondary antibodies Secretion Serology Serpin Serum albumin Serum protein electrophoresis Server (computing)Sex hormone-binding globulin Sheep Shingles Side-chain theory Signal transduction Single-chain variable fragment Single-domain antibody Sjögren's syndrome Slope spectroscopy Somatic hypermutation Spleen Superantigen Surrobody Susumu Tonegawa Synthetic antibody T-cell depletion T cell Tandem mass spectrometry Teleost Teleost fish Teleostei Terminally differentiated Teruko Ishizaka Tetanus toxin Tetramer protein The Lancet The Lancet Microbe The Scripps Research Institute Thyroglobulin Titer Toll-like receptor Toxicity Toxin Transcobalamin Transcortin Transferrin Transthyretin Trifunctional antibody Turbidimetry University of Cambridge University of Oxford Urogenital tract V(D)J recombination Vaccination Vaccine Van der Waals force Vertebrate Virus Vitamin D-binding protein Vitruvian Man WHO Western blot Western blot normalization World Health Organization X-linked agammaglobulinemia X-ray crystallography Β-strand

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