Autophagy contributes to the homeostasis of a cell and recently another function of autophagy has been reported. A KAIST research team found that the autophagy of dendritic cells supports T-cell anticancer activity.
May 13, 2019
0
2
(HealthDay)—Atenolol is associated with a reduction in incident intermediate- and low-risk prostate cancer (PCa), according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association, held from May ...
May 06, 2019
0
0
Men treated with medications for symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) experienced a two-year delay in diagnosis of their prostate cancer and were twice as likely to have advanced disease upon diagnosis, report University ...
May 06, 2019
0
6
Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid cancer in children, and patients with high-risk disease are challenging to treat. In a promising development, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine released initial ...
May 02, 2019
0
3
A new form of cancer immunotherapy has been given to a University of California, San Diego Health patient in the first test of immune cells grown from stem cells.
Apr 16, 2019
0
103
Scientists have identified a protein critical to the immune system development and antibody production in mice, which could contribute to understanding the gut defense mechanism in infants.
Apr 08, 2019
0
2
A new strain of Bordetella pertussis – the bacterium that causes whooping cough – has become resistant to antibiotic treatment and may also be resistant to the vaccine used in China. A UNSW Sydney academic says the growing ...
Apr 05, 2019
0
2
Infectious mononucleosis, or mono, sidelines high school athletes every year. Kids who play sports aren't more susceptible to the disease. Instead, adolescent competitors are at a greater risk for one of the illness's serious ...
Apr 05, 2019
0
6
Vaccination with as few as four tumor antigens generated antigen-specific responses, reduced intestinal tumors, and improved survival in a mouse model of Lynch syndrome, suggesting that it may be possible to develop a cancer ...
Apr 01, 2019
0
161
A chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy that targets the protein mesothelin showed no evidence of major toxicity and had antitumor activity in patients with malignant pleural disease from mesothelioma, according ...
Mar 31, 2019
0
1
An antigen is a foreign molecule that, when introduced into the body, triggers the production of an antibody by the immune system. The immune system will then kill or neutralize the antigen that is recognized as a foreign and potentially harmful invader. These invaders can be molecules such as pollen or cells such as bacteria. The term originally came from antibody generator and was a molecule that binds specifically to an antibody, but the term now also refers to any molecule or molecular fragment that can be bound by a major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and presented to a T-cell receptor. "Self" antigens are usually tolerated by the immune system; whereas "Non-self" antigens are identified as invaders and attacked by the immune system. self antigens.
An immunogen is a specific type of antigen. An immunogen is a substance that is able to provoke an adaptive immune response if injected on its own. An immunogen is able to induce an immune response, whereas an antigen is able to combine with the products of an immune response once they are made. The overlapping concepts of immunogenicity and antigenicity are, therefore, subtly different. According to a current textbook:
Immunogenicity is the ability to induce a humoral and/or cell-mediated immune response
Antigenicity is the ability to combine specifically with the final products of the immune response (i.e. secreted antibodies and/or surface receptors on T-cells). Although all molecules that have the property of immunogenicity also have the property of antigenicity, the reverse is not true."
At the molecular level, an antigen is characterized by its ability to be "bound" at the antigen-binding site of an antibody. Note also that antibodies tend to discriminate between the specific molecular structures presented on the surface of the antigen (as illustrated in the Figure). Antigens are usually proteins or polysaccharides. This includes parts (coats, capsules, cell walls, flagella, fimbrae, and toxins) of bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms. Lipids and nucleic acids are antigenic only when combined with proteins and polysaccharides. Non-microbial exogenous (non-self) antigens can include pollen, egg white, and proteins from transplanted tissues and organs or on the surface of transfused blood cells. Vaccines are examples of immunogenic antigens intentionally administered to induce acquired immunity in the recipient.
Cells present their immunogenic-antigens to the immune system via a histocompatibility molecule. Depending on the antigen presented and the type of the histocompatibility molecule, several types of immune cells can become activated.
This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA
