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Flashcards in Antibodies Deck (11)
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1
Q

What type of cells are antibodies?

A

Immunoglobulins.

2
Q

What are antibodies produced by?

A

B cells as part of humoral immunity.

3
Q

What do antibodies target?

A

Circulating microbes and toxins.

4
Q

What happens when antibodies identify their target?

A

They bind the microbe and prevent further infection of cells.

5
Q

What type of immunity can antibodies provide?

A

Active and passive immunity.

6
Q

What happens when antibodies are bound to their target?

A

Macrophages pick up the fact it is antigen bound and remove the toxin from the body.

7
Q

What is the difference between active and passive immunity?

A

Active immunity is the idea of the body creating antibodies itself, whereas passive immunity is the idea that antibodies are injected into the body directly.

8
Q

What is the basic unit of an antibody composed of?

A

Two heavy and two light chains that are joined by disulfide bonds.

9
Q

What does each chain in the antibody structure contain?

A

Several Ig domain repeats, variable and conserved regions and joining and diversity regions.

10
Q

How many classes of antibody are they and what are they defined by?

A

There are 5, and these are determined by the heavy chain class - IgM, IgD, IgA, IgE, IgG.

11
Q

How do the different antibody classes vary?

A

IgM - first to be produced, IgD - naive B cell antigen recognition, IgA - epithelial/mucosal immunity, IgE - helminthic parasites and immediate hypersensitivity, IgG - secondary exposure, neonatal immunity.