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Antibody Structure

Antibody Structure

Overview
Antibodies, also known as immunoglobulins (Ig), are essential players of the adaptive immune system. These antigen-binding proteins are produced by B cells and make up 20 percent of the total blood plasma by weight. In mammals, antibodies fall into five different classes, which each elicits a different biological response upon antigen binding.
The Y-Shaped Structure of Antibodies Consists of Four Polypeptide Chains
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Cells of the Adaptive Immune Response

Cells of the Adaptive Immune Response

The T and B lymphocytes of the adaptive immune system develop from common lymphoid progenitor cells in the bone marrow. These progenitors give rise to precursors that eventually develop into both T and B lymphocytes. As these precursors mature, they gain the ability to detect and respond to foreign antigens in the body, a process known as immunocompetence. Additionally, these precursors acquire self-tolerance, a process that ensures they do not react to self-antigens. This intricate system...

Transcytosis of IgG

Transcytosis of IgG

Transcytosis is the process in which molecules are internalized by endocytosis, transported across the cell, and released through exocytosis from the opposite end of the cell. Molecules such as insulin, immunoglobulins, and certain nutrients are transferred through the recycling endosomes by recycling and transcytosis.
IgG molecules from a mother undergo transcytosis starting around 13 weeks of gestation. The amount of IgG transferred and entering the fetal blood circulation increases with...

Allergic Drug Reactions

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Allergic reactions related to drugs are hypersensitivity responses driven by the immune system and bear no connection to the drug's therapeutic action. While drugs in isolation do not trigger an immune response, they can interact with endogenous proteins to form antigens. These antigens stimulate lymphocytes to produce antibodies. IgE-type antibodies attach themselves to mast cells. Upon subsequent exposure to the same stimulus, the antigen-antibody interaction is initiated, unleashing numerous...

Antigens Involved in Adaptive Immunity

Antigens Involved in Adaptive Immunity

An antigen is any substance the immune system identifies as foreign and potentially harmful to the body, prompting an immune response. Antigens have two functional properties: immunogenicity and reactivity. Immunogenicity is the ability of an antigen to stimulate a specific immune response. At the same time, reactivity describes the antigen's ability to react with the cells and antibodies produced in response to it.
Complete Antigens
Complete antigens possess both immunogenicity and reactivity.

Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay

Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay

In 1971, Peter Perlman and Eva Engvall developed an Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA or EIA). ELISA differs from western blot in that the assays are conducted in microtiter plates or in vivo rather than on an absorbent membrane.
There are many different types of ELISAs, but they all involve an antibody molecule whose constant region binds an enzyme, leaving the variable region free to bind its specific antigen. Enzyme-substrate reaction allows the antigen to be visualized or quantified.

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 17, 2026

Detection of True IgE-expressing Mouse B Lineage Cells

Detection of True IgE-expressing Mouse B Lineage Cells

Published on: December 1, 2014

What is unique about the IgE response?

Huizhong Xiong¹, Maria A Curotto de Lafaille, Juan J Lafaille

¹Kimmel Center for Biology and Medicine at the Skirball Institute, New York University School of Medicine, New York, USA.

Advances in Immunology

|October 16, 2012

Summary

The review explores how immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibody responses are initiated and maintained, suggesting a pathway involving IgG1 intermediates and germinal center affinity maturation. This process differs significantly from typical IgG responses.

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Characterization of Thymus-dependent and Thymus-independent Immunoglobulin Isotype Responses in Mice Using Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay

Characterization of Thymus-dependent and Thymus-independent Immunoglobulin Isotype Responses in Mice Using Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay

Published on: September 7, 2018

Area of Science:

Immunology
Allergy Research
Antibody Engineering

Background:

Immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies mediate allergic reactions, with high-affinity IgE potentially causing anaphylaxis.
Understanding the initiation and maintenance of IgE responses is crucial for managing allergic diseases.

Purpose of the Study:

To review the current understanding of IgE antibody response generation.
To evaluate proposed models of IgE class switching and affinity maturation.

Main Methods:

Analysis of existing literature and proposed models of antibody class switching.
Discussion of findings from genetically modified mouse models (IgG1-deficient, IgE reporter strains).

Main Results:

IgE responses may involve an IgG1 intermediate undergoing affinity maturation in germinal centers (GC) before switching to IgE.
IgG1-deficient mice produce IgE, but it lacks antigen-binding strength and somatic mutations.
GC environments partially antagonize IgE class switching, and IgE+ cells are lost over time, unlike thriving IgG1 cells.
Membrane IgE-expressing plasmablasts and plasma cells are key in secondary lymphoid organs.

Conclusions:

IgE responses exhibit distinct features, including swift development towards plasma cell fate and affinity maturation via an IgG intermediate.
These characteristics differentiate IgE responses from those of IgG antibodies.