Antigen
The word antigen comes from “antibody generator [1] ”. Any molecule that causes an immune response by binding with an Antibody or T-cell receptor is an antigen, for this reason they are important in immunisation as they can induce a highly specific adaptive immune response. This occurs because of the activation of the innate immune response which uses Antigen presenting cells (APC’s) to activate T-cells.
- ↑ Alberts, Johnson, Lewis, Raff, Roberts and Walter (2008) Molecular Biology of The Cell, fifth edition, New York: Garland Science.